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The John J. and Hanna M. McManus 
and Morris N. and Chesley V. Young 
. Collection 


* 





If the reading of “Forging his Chains,” excites an interest in 
its author, it is in your power to aid by mentioning to any persons, 
ladies or gentlemen, that I am also my own publisher and wish 
agents to canvass for subscriptions. 

This book is attracting so much exceptional interest, and already 
doing so much good, that agents may feel assured of a kind reception 
and a hearing seldom avouched to book canvassers. If you know of 
any fitting person out of employment, or otherwise, please call atten¬ 
tion to the opportunity and oblige the author. 



Hartford, Conn. 



















































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From a Photo, by Rodgers, Hartford. 



IB months after release, 













for^ii^ 4 - JR$ 4 - <5173195. 


The Autobiography 

OF 

GEORGE BID WELL, 


THE FAMOUS 

Ticket-Of-Leave Man. 


BROUGHT UP A PURITAN — SUCCESSFUL STRUGGLES AGAINST POVERTY—A 
MERCHANT — HIS COMMERCIAL MISFORTUNES, TEMPTATIONS, 

6 AND ULTIMATE FALL; 

HIS UNEXAMPLED CAREER IN AMERICA AND EUROPE 5 

t 

HIS TRIAL AND INCARCERATION IN ENGLISH PRISONS FOURTEEN YEARS ON 

A LIFE SENTENCE FOR 

“ The $5,000,000 Forgery on the Bank of England.” 


WITP * OjNE V JKIJSDRED 4- IEEaSTI^TIO]^. 


“ Treasures of wickedness profit nothing.”— Proverbs . 


NEW YORK AND HARTFORD: 

Tlie Bidwell Publishing Company. 

18 8 9. 


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■I 


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'f'HM 

SSI 


COPYRIGHT. 1888. 

By S. S. Scranton & Co. 


, JOHN J. Mi HANNA It HeMANTJS 
yo..n ». »nd CHESLEY V. YOUNG 
Collection 

12. 1955 


\ 


THE CASE, LOCKWOOD A BRAINARD CO., 
PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 
HARTFORD, CONN. 



PEEFACE. 


The early chapters of this volume were written at a time 
when I had some misgivings as to the propriety of placing it 
before the public. It seemed to me likely that such a book 
would be misunderstood and misjudged by a class of readers, 
and the real purpose of its publication ignored. My friends 
disagreed on the subject, and gave dissimilar advice. I was 
placed in a position not unlike John Buriyan’s: 

Some said, “John, print it;” others said, “Not so.” 

Some said, “It might do good;” others said, “No.” 

But by far the greater number of my friends insisted that I 
must publish the book; and it now goes forth upon its mission, 
I trust, for good. I sincerely hope that no one will regard it 
as a mere record of crime. It is not a contribution to “ flash ” 
literature, or designed for the edification of the vicious. It is 
intended for honest people, and, I may add, as an enduring 
injunction for them to remain such. 

I believe it to be a duty, which I owe my Creator and man¬ 
kind, to occupy the remainder of my days in “ works meet for 
repentance.’" I have come also to believe that in no way can 
I do so much to atone for past misdeeds as by giving the true 
story of my life to the world. The most critical reader will 
scarcely claim that my physical punishment has been insuffi¬ 
cient; and yet, through all those weary years, my mental 
sufferings were by far the greatest. 

In all ages men have fallen and reformed. If this book 
shall tend to convince the people of my native land of my 
own reformation, one of its objects will have been attained. 
If it shall prove a timely warning to any young business men 
or those occupying places of trust, who may be startled into a 
recognition of their own danger, I shall feel that my labor has 
not been in vain, and that my new life and liberty will not be 
altogether useless. GL B. 



• AT HOME, East Hartford, Conn. 

For the benefit of any careless reader who may fail to observe the 
warnings in my book, and who may fancy that he can make a fortune, or 
the beginning of one, by imitating the methods described in “Forging 
His Chains, ” I wish to say: — 

1st. Read my book carefully and yonder the fate of men as clever as 
yourself, whose names appear in the fiftieth chapter. 

2d. If you still fancy you can commit a fraud and escape, it only 
proves that you have not the sense and judgment to carry out a crime suc¬ 
cessfully. Therefore, your first step would be into the hands of the police. 

3d. The merchandise-swindling operations have become so well 
known that even the postmasters and freight agents would unfailingly put 
the police on you at once. Hundreds of men in both England and America 
are to-day in State prisons for attempts of the kind. 

4th. In regard to letter of credit, check, and other frauds on bankers, 
those men named in chapter fifty have completely played out that game 
and themselves. The whole time I was in prison they, and others used as 
tools, have, until arrested and imprisoned, worked both sides of the Atlan¬ 
tic until now the few who are free are longing for an opening into an hon¬ 
est business, recognizing that any fraudulent attempt will surely land them 
in prison. I know two men who have squandered hundreds of thousands 
of dollars who have for months past been put to great straits to obtain food, 
not daring to try on the old games which you possibly fancy you could 
execute successfully. 

5th. If (after reading my book and this note) you still cannot see 
that it is best to get on honestly — even if slow — then try it on, and when 
you are where I have seen so many thousands of like mind with yourself, 
you will have ample time — as they and I had — for retrospections and 
reflections. 

If any young man will be advised, let him not squander the leisure 
time of his young manhood about the bars and billiard rooms, but like our 
physically magnificent Teutonic progenitors, consider the first twenty-five 
years of life as a preparatory period. Until you are twenty-five think only 
of two things— how you may improve yourself physically and mentally. 
Then you will be ready to take advantage of opportunities that come to 
everyone to engage in a legitimate life-work, and at thirty-five years of age 
will be far ahead, in wealth and social position, of those who think they 
must put on full steam at eighteen or twenty, and think only of momentary 
pleasures, which are quite right in their proper place, as part of a mental 
and physical training. Your sincere well-wisher, 





CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

Explanatory, ........ 17 

CHAPTER n. 

My Ancestors — My Parents and Their Religion — The Ups and Downs 
of a Pioneer’s Life in Michigan — My Father’s Business Failures — I 
Turn Peddler and Wood-sawyer to Support the Family — Nautical 
Experiences — The Grand Rapids Disaster—I Go to New York City 
and Become a “Drummer”—My Untimely Marriage — Signs and 
Portents, ........ 25 

CHAPTER IH. 

Overweighted at the Outset — A Struggle to Support Dependent Ones — 
My First Dishonest Act — The ‘‘ Patent Globe Coffee-Roaster ”— Arrest 
on Charge of Embezzlement — Examination at the Tombs Police 
Court, and Discharge by “Big” Justice Connelly — The Philoso¬ 
phy of Crime — Twenty Minutes out of Prison — A Suicidal Re¬ 
trospect, . . . . . . . .38 


CHAPTER IY. 

In Business on Broadway — A Typographical Villain — Hilton Floods 
the Confederate States with Spurious Notes and Bonds—His Arrest 
and Confinement in Fort Lafayette — Life in Ludlow Street Jail — 
Oils the Wheels of the Judicial Chariot with $40,000 — A Farcical 
Punishment — A Question for Casuists, . . . ,47 

CHAPTER Y. 

I Invent a Steam-kettle and Obtain a Patent — The Broadway Business 
Broken Up — My Temporary Discouragement — Attempt to Establish 
a Factory in Toronto — Confidence in U. S. Greenbacks — Gold on 
the “Rampage”—$10,000 Reduced by Exchange to $3,000 — Retreat 
to Chicago — Frank Kibbe, the Merchandise Swindler —I Meet him 
in Buffalo and Baltimore — Kibbe, Fearing Arrest, Induces Me to 
Collect $1,000 — A “Crook’s” Chances of Escaping Imprison¬ 
ment, ........ 56 



6 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER VI. 

A Swindling Commission House — Kibbe Absconds with $20,000 — I 
Trace Him a Thousand Miles — The Bogus Firm of Henry Harvey 
Short & Co., Buffalo — “The Rogue” Run to Earth — His Race for 
Liberty — Arrested by a Detective — $600 Worth of “ Palm-grease ”— 
The Detective Assists Him to “ Skip” to Canada — Injured Innocence 
of the Chief of Police — Kicked Out — I Bring Kibbe to Bay — Some 
of His “Commercial” Transactions Extracted from the “New York 
Tribune,” ........ 64 


CHAPTER VH. 

Partner-swindling — “Doctor” Samuel Bolivar— How He “Raised the 
Wind”—Up a Tree—The Way He Roped in Greenhorns — The 
Bogus Reference “Dead Beat”—Jones’s Grand Piano—The Empty 
Box — The Elm City Enterprise comes to an Untimely End — Musical 
“Notes”—Diamond Cut Diamond — Beaten by an Ex-associate, who 
Disappears into Obscurity, . . . . .74 

CHAPTER VIII. 

In the Tobacco Business at Wheeling, West Virginia —Eldridge and the 
Cumberland Swindle — Eldridge’s Arrest — Post and Telegraph Offices 
“Worked”—A “Header” out of a Car Window, and Escape in Irons 
— An Angel in the Wilderness — A “Rise” taken out of Pender — 
Eldridge Re-arrested and Lodged in Wheeling Jail, . . 85 

CHAPTER IX. 

My Arrest in Evansville — Delivered Upon a Requisition Charging Me 
with Felony — Tried for Misdemeanor and Given Two Years in the 
County Jail — Unequal Sentences — A “ Model ” Jail — Adams Express 
Robbers — Shelton Plans an Escape, . . . .91 


CHAPTER X. 

Eldridge, Shelton, Green, and Morgan Break out of Wheeling Jail — 
Morgan Shot Dead — Leap and Run for Liberty — Wanderings in the 
Forest —“Borrowing” a Horse-blanket — Starvation and a Goose- 
chase— A Dinner Won — Eldridge Loses His Companions in Crossing 
the Ohio — A Narrow Escape - 1 - A Fearful Ride — Freedom at Last 
and a Pilgrimage — The Good Quaker Lady — Arrival in New 
York, . . . . . . . .98 


CONTENTS. 


7 


CHAPTER XI. 

A Futile Plan — An “Old Saw”—A New Conspiracy to Escape — A 
Traitor — I am “ Bucked ” and Horsewhipped — To Heal My Wounded 
Spirit I Set the Jail on Fire — Christmas Dinner in Jail — My Party 
Escape — Cross the Ohio in a “Borrowed” Boat — A Stolen Ride — 
A “Tramp” — Good Luck and Good Samaritans—Meet Peney in 
New Orleans, ....... 108 


CHAPTER Xn. 

Forgers Wilkes and Sheridan — A Big Gold “ Operation ” in Wall Street 
Frustrated — Other Gold Forgeries — Engles, “The Terror of Wall 
Street ”— Fighting the “Tiger ”— The Forger and Gambler at Home— 
Further Transactions — A Model Constable, . . . 121 


CHAPTER XIH. 

George McDonald’s Early Life — Goes to Harvard College — His Parents 
— He Leaves Home — Meets Kibbe, ‘ ‘ The Rogue ” — Gets into the 
‘ ‘ Tombs ”— I Make His Acquaintance — Sketch of Austin Bidwell — A 
“Male Quartet” off for Europe — Arrival in London — A “Duet” 
Visit Ireland — “ Freaks ” Endorsed on Bank of England Notes — Mr. 
Green — He Introduces “Warren” to the Bank — Mr. Francis and 
Mr. Fenwick, Bank Managers — Warren Opens an Account at the 
Bank of England, . . . . . . .132 


CHAPTER XIV. 

Bordeaux, Marseilles, and Lyons “Donate” $50,000 — A Bad Quarter of 
an Hour—Eggs and Peasant Women—“ Sweets to the Sweet”—A 
Mysterious Stranger Disappears Among the Tombs — Reunion in 
London — Cowardice or “Prudence” of George Engles, . . 144 

CHAPTER XV. 

“The Terror of Wall Street” Returns to New York—Takes Parties of 
Forgers to England and the Continent — He is Arrested — Fruitless 
Examples — Starts a Faro Bank — Fights Strange “Tigers”—His 
^Premature Death in 1886—Voyage to Rio Janeiro—The Lady of 
the iMcitania — A Swedish Colonel’s Party of English Engineers — A 
Bibulous Chaplain — $50,000 on Bogus Letters of Credit — Mr. 
Solomons — An Anxious Time — Munson in a “Fix” — Strategic 
Movements to Extricate Him, ..... 154 


8 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XYI. 

Technicalities of Brazilian Law — In a Tight Spot — I Resolve on a Bold 
Coup — Efficacy of a Suitable “Douceur” — A “Doctored” Passport 

— A Detective on Trail, Who Ingratiates Himself into Munson’s 
Confidence — Maneuvers — The Detective on a “Wild Goose Chase” 

— Safely on Board — A Distinguished Party in a Rowboat — A 

Stern Chase — Off at Last, . . . . .165 

• 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Idle Days at Rio — Imperial Honors — Visit to a Coffee Plantation — 
Slaves — A Trip to the La Plata — Ten Days’ Quarantine on the 
Island De Flores — Montevideo and Buenos Ayres — The “La France ” 

— Out in a Pampero — Return to England, . . . 173 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

I Meet Munson in Paris — His Account of the Voyage From Rio — A 
Pleasure Trip to Vienna—Orpheus and Eurydice — An Electric 
Phenomena — I Air My German — Return to London — Incidents of 
Travel in Germany, . . . . . .180 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Unsuccessful Attempt to “Beat the Dutch” — Mac’s “Great Discovery” 

— London Again — First Inception of the Great Bank of England 
Forgery — Deductions from McDonald’s “ Great Discovery ” — Verifi¬ 
cation of Commercial Notes and Bills of Exchange — Letter From a 
Bank Manager — I Cable to America for Noyes — Sir Sidney Water- 
low’s Clerks — Mistaken Identity — A Key to the Mystery — No Wood 
Engravers in Paris — I Put My Neck in the Halter — Horton Account 
Opened at the Continental Bank— The “Fraud Machine” in Working 
Order — I Resolve to Give Up the Contemplated Fraud and Go Home 

— A Fatal Compliance — Don’t. . . . . .185 

CHAPTER XX. 

A Headlong Marriage — Tragic End of a Bridal Tour — First Letter to 
the Bank of England — $50,000 a Day — Am Puzzled What to Do 
With So Much Gold — A Trio at the St. James Hotel, Piccadilly — 
Forebodings — A Joke on the Prince of Wales — Garraway’s, . 199 

CHAPTER XXI. 

The Fraud Discovered—Noyes Arrested — A Clearance — An Important 
Piece of Blotting Paper — Flight of McDonald — Examination of 
Noyes at the Mansion House, before Lord Mayor Waterlow — The 
Bank Solicitor, C. K. Frashfield, M. P. — Dr. Kenealy, . . 210 


CONTENTS . 


9 


CHAPTER XXn. 

Hunted Through. Ireland — $2,500 Reward for My Capture — Detectives 
“ Spot ” Me at the Cork Railway Station — Obliged to Abandon Taking 
Passage by the Ill-fated Atlantic — A Game of “Hare and Hounds ” — 
Eluding a Detective “Trap” — English Misrule in Ireland — Am 
Taken for a Priest — A Typographical Thunderbolt at Lismore — 
An Early Morning Walk —A Ride.on an Irish Jaunting-car— “ On the 
Road to Clonmel” — Shelter in a “Shebeen”—How Thirsty Souls 
Get the “Craythur” in Ireland — A Good Old Irish Lady — Pursuit, 
and Refuge in a Ruined Cottage at Cahir, . . . 220 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

An Unceremonious Call—“I am a Fenian Leader” — A “Story” Told 
in the Dark — Maloy Helps my Escape on an Irish Jaunting-car — 
Eggs —A Policeman Anxious to Obtain the Five Hundred Pounds 
Reward — Dublin Again — A Jewess’s Blessing — I Turn Russian, and 
Later Become a Frenchman — Belfast Detectives — Escape into Scot¬ 
land— The Other Side of the Story — A Bow-street Detective’s Adven¬ 
tures while Hunting me Through Ireland — Cross-Questioning my 
Jaunting-car Driver — A “Cold Water Cure” — Hot on the Trail — 
Not in the Fort — A Fruitless Hunt — Many Innocents Arrested — 
Maloy Becomes a “ Know-Nothing,” .... 232 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Arrival in Edinburgh — A Mystery Unveiled — Editorial from the ^Lon¬ 
don Times” — I Am Arrested — M’Kelvie and McNab — Diamonds — 
Bailie Wilson — Crowds to See Me Off—Transferred to London — A 
Night at Bow-Street Police Station — Before the Lord Mayor of Lon¬ 
don — The Mansion House — Consigned to Newgate, . . 244 

CHAPTER XXY. 

Extradition of Austin Bidwell from Cuba and George McDonald from 
New York — Austin Arrested in Havana — A “New York Herald” 
Editorial—Sympathy with “ Fillibusters ” — Cable Dispatches to 
“The Herald” and “The London Times” — General Sickles’s Inter¬ 
view with Senor Castelar at Madrid — Bidwell Escapes — Recapture — 
He is Surrendered to The British Government — Arrival in England — 
McDonald Arrives in New York — Detectives Irving and Farley Trick 
Sheriff Judson Jarvis — Board the “Thuringia” at Quarantine — 
Curious “Search” of McDonald—Sheriffs Jarvis and Curry Too 
Late — No Bonds Recovered — Seize Watches and Diamonds — Mc¬ 
Donald at Ludlow Street Jail — Extradition Proceedings — Startling 


12 


CONTENTS. 


tifies — William Cheshire, Engraver, Paternoster-Row, Does Fancy 
Work for George Bidwell — Other Witnesses Cross-Examined by 
George Bidwell — James Dalton, a Deaf and Dumb Engraver, is Ex¬ 
amined— The Bidwell Coat-of-Arms — A Police Constable and a 
London Detective Sergeant in the Witness-Box—A Scotch Boarding- 
House Mistress Recognizes — More Detective Testimony — A Glas¬ 
gow Fellow Passenger on the Lucitania — Mr. Charles Chabot, the 
Expert in Hand-Writing, Testifies — Another Hotel-Waiter Gives 
Evidence, ........ 355 

CHAPTER XXXY. 

The Trial Continued — Eighth and Last Day, Tuesday, August 26th — 
An Affecting Letter — Noyes Tries to Save The Old Homestead— “ He 
Likes to Stay in Europe ” — A Letter of Condolence — My Letters from 
Edinburgh — The Case for the Prosecution Closed — Mr. Metcalf, Q. C., 
Takes a Formal Objection, which is Overruled — Mr. Giffard, Q. C., 
Sums Up the Evidence on the Part of the Prosecution — McDon¬ 
ald’s Statement to the Jury — George Bidwell’s Remarks Cut Short by 
Judge Archibald — Mr. Mclntire’s Plea for Austin Bidwell — Mr. Rib- 
ton Addresses the Jury on Behalf of Noyes — Judge Archibald Sums 
Up—Jury Retires — Bring in a Verdict of “ Guilty ” — Austin Bidwell 
Exonerates the Bank Manager — Last Appeal of the Prisoners — Sen¬ 
tenced for Life, . . . . . . . 365 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Plan of Escape From Newgate During the Trial at Old Bailey — Article 
From London Times — A Tempest in a Teapot — Arrest of Warders 
Leach, Smidt, and Norris — The “Pattern Solicitor” Howell Again — 
A Faithful Brother — A Soap Prison Key — 300 Sovereigns Thrown 
Away — Solicitor Howell’s “Benevolent” Visits to Newgate — His 
Astute Plan — A Prison “Tool” — His Treason and Its Results—A 
Body-Guard of Policemen — Norris Gets Three Months for Acting as a 
Postman — John Bright’s, Chamberlain’s, Spurgeon’s, Churchill’s, Mor- 
ley’s, Marquises Lymington’s and Hartington’s Letters — Charles Dud¬ 
ley Warner, Mrs. H. Beecher Stowe, and Mark Twain’s Petition for 
Austin Refused — John Bidwell Flies From England — Success of 
Howell’s Rascality — He Is Expelled The Profession, . . 384 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

Penal Servitude For Life — First Night After the Sentence — Despair — 
Attempted Suicide Saved By a Supernatural Warning — In Chains 
— The Black Maria — Newgate Burying-Ground — Arrival at Penton- 
ville Prison — An Ominous Reception — Medical Inspection — Picking 
Oakum — Exercise — Remarks on Prison Life — The Nine Months Soli¬ 
tary System an Absurdity — Inequality of Sentences, . . 399 


CONTENTS. 


13 


CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

doctor Vane C. Clarke — Effects of Solitude on My Mind — A Desperate 
Plan to Escape — A Convict Imbecile — Star Men — Other Classes of 
Convicts — Their Dress and Food — Remission Marks, . . 413 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Prison Authorities — Governors — Doctors — Duties of the Chief Warder 

— Why Warders Are False to Their Duties — A Perfect Convict Sys¬ 

tem on Paper—Corrupt Warders—Brutalities — Kill and Leave No 
Marks — Convict Robinson Kicked to Death — An Honest Warder 
Discharged as Insane For Exposing It — Result When Convicts Com¬ 
plain— Charles Dudley Warner’s Opinion—Abstract of Prison Regu¬ 
lations — Progressive Stages — Dietaries, .... 427 

CHAPTER XL. 

How (Not) to Obtain “Porridge” — Prospecting For a Plan of Escape 

— Too Much Heat Evaporates the Idea — Despair Demands Death or 

Liberty— “ Old” Varney, the Snorer — I Dig Out Bricks in Search of 
Porridge, but Find Chains — Official “Investigation” With a Ven¬ 
geance— Chained — Bread and Water — Am Found Insensible — An 
Electric Shock — How a Convict Can Prove Sickness Not to Be 
Shammed — Under Observation — In “Hot Water” — A Cold Water 
Shock — ‘ ‘ Old ” Bones — Transported to Dartmoor, . . 437 

CHAPTER XLI. 

Dartmoor Convict Establishment — Prison Association — Niblo Clark — 
His Story — Steals Two Coats — Takes Refuge on the Roofs — A Dar¬ 
ing Leap — A Terrified Woman — Fifteen Years for “Cheeking” the 
Judge — The “ Pipps ” — He is Ambushed by the Medical Officer, 448 

CHAPTER XLII. 

Doctor Power — Governor Harris — Hard Life and Terrible Death of an 
Italian Convict — Lord Kimberly in My Cell — Phillips, the Con¬ 
vict Imposter — A Perambulator — Ingratitude — Another Imposter 
“Raised” by Galvanic Shocks — Boozer’s Story — Soap as an Article 
of Diet — How Convicts Get Into the Hospital — Beef Steaks as 
Breastplates—“Reliable” Convicts on the Look Out—“Whopper” 

— How to Get a Good Dinner in Prison — Sacrificing an Eye for a 

Few Weeks in Hospital — Taggart, a Prison “Faker” — An Incurable 
Abscess, . . . . . . . . 456 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

Kill or Cure — Punishment Cells — The Tailors’ Shop — Before the Gov¬ 
ernor— Bread and Water — The Crank — Grinding the Wind — Prin¬ 
cipal Warder Westlake—I Obtain “Porridge” at Last — On the Bare 
Boards — Desperation — Cut My Throat — In Handcuffs — Rescued by 




44 CONTENTS. 

the Chaplain, A. H. Ferris — A Good Samaritan — A Governor’s, 
Chaplains’, and Prisoners’ Letters — A Prison “Shave” — An Elec¬ 
tric Cannonade — In Extremity — Governor Avery and His Noble- 
Hearted Wife — Warder Westlake Brought to Book — A Convict 
Shot Dead — Another Badly Wounded, .... 467 

CHAPTER XLIY. 

Doctor Smalley — Transferred to Woking Invalid Palace—A Gang of 
Chained Convicts at Plymouth Station — A Delightful Journey to End 
in a Living Grave — Description of Woking Prison Palace — Major- 
Gen. Sir Joshua Jebb — Doctor Campbell — Gangs of Living Skeletons 
from Chatham — Chatham Prison and Great Basins — The Revolt at 
Chatham — Remorseless Severity Against the Revolters — No Investi¬ 
gation as to the Cause of Revolt — Sneaking Part of Our Food to the 
Skeletons — A Month out of Prison, .... 482 

CHAPTER XLY. 

Prison Tortures — The Cat-o’-Nine-Tails — Flogging — The Birch — 
Squire Morris — How He Obtained Promotion — The Galvanic Battery 

— The Straight-Jacket— “ Screw Him Up” — Unauthorized Brutality 

— How They Feed a Man in the Jacket — Two Brutes, Warders Yile 
and James — The Humane Principal Warder Fry — Crippled For Life 
by the Jacket — The “Cleaner” Mackey — Retribution for Yile, 494 

CHAPTER XLYI. 

Books — Prison Pets — Rat Performs on the Trapeze — Rat Jealousy and 
Rodent Reasoning — An Intelligent Mouse — Its Betrayal and Death — 
A Beetle the Sole Companion of My Solitude — Tame Flies—Setting 
a Fly’s Disjointed Leg — Champion Encounters Between Flies — My 
Mosquito Friends — General Remarks, .... 504 

CHAPTER XLYII. 

Doctor Campbell Retires — Remarks About Warders — Doctor Von Mar¬ 
tin— A Four-Bedded Dormitory — Electric Shocks “Restore” Bed- 
Ridden Cripples — Strange Characters — A Cadger and a Pickpocket 

— Selwin’s Story — Whopper’s Life — An Honorable Pickpocket — Lo- 

comoto Praxis — A Pickpocket’s Sons — Ex-Solicitor D- : Mor¬ 

alizing — A Little Light Followed by Deeper Gloom — Doctor Braine 

— Abbot’s Brutality — Governor Bones Again — Under Him Woking 
Becomes a Den of Horrors — He is Superseded — A Restoration Under 
Doctor Yane C. Clarke — Pennock, the Epileptic — 34 Years in Prison 

— His Sad Story — A Promise Yet Unfulfilled, . . .511 



CONTENTS. 


15 


CHAPTER XLVIII. 

Woking Convict Lunatic Asylum — Self-Made Lunatics — Vile and 
James Again — Vile’s Reception of a Lunatic— “We Can Kill a Man 
and Leave No Marks” — How They Do It — Lunatic Imposters and 
Their Doings—The Woking High Priest— “Life’s Action” — Robbed 
of Three Years Remission — Governmental Inconsistencies — Justice 
vs. Injustice, ....... 523 


CHAPTER XLIX. 

(Not) “Uriah Heep” — A Sketch of His Life — At 15 Escapes From a 
Lunatic Asylum — Obtains a Situation — Robs His Employer — Es¬ 
capes from Raynell Asylum — Steals an Attendant’s Suit — Gets Five 
Years Penal Servitude at Chatham — Sent from Prison Back to The 
Asylum — Escapes Nude with Shaved and Blistered Head — How He 
Got a Suit — How He Learned the Painters’ Trade — How He Got a 
Second Term of Seven Years— “Fetches” the Woking Lunatic Wing 
— Discharge and Departure for America — He Returns — Gets a Third 
Term of Ten Years — Bleeding—Straight-Jacket — Fourteen Months 
Without Eating, ....... 533 


CHAPTER L. 

The Ultimate Fate of Forgers— “Old Patch,” the First Bank of England 
Forger — Wilkes, the Railway Man — He First Becomes a Gambler, 
then a Forger — George Engles’ Finale — Wilson, Vanderpool, alias 
Brockway, Charles Becker, Joe Chapman, George Bell, Robert S. Bal¬ 
lard, Thomas Ballard, Walter Sheridan, Frank Kibbe, Little Elliott, 
W. H. Lyman, Stephen Raymond, Perrine, Dan Noble, Williamson, 
Rosencranz, alias Wise, etc., Spence Pettis, George Watson, Van 
Etten, Lewis Cole, Charles Lister, and Johnny Miller, Forgers, . 544 

CHAPTER LI. 

The “ Ticket-of-Leave ” Man — Facsimile of an Ordinary Ticket-of- 
Leave — Requirements and Regulations Printed on Its Back — 
Prisoner’s Aid Society — Prisoners’ Opinions of That Society — No 
Chance for Ex-Convicts in England — How Prison Gratuity Money is 
Used — Buying a New Suit — Prisons the Best Homes Many Ever Had 
— Ex-Convicts Blackmailed — Welch, “The Truss of Straw,” and 
Parker, “Model” London Detectives—By Perjury They Get Piper 
and Shaw Fourteen Years — Parker Arrested and the Truth Becomes 
Known — Piper and Shaw Discharged After Serving Eighteen Months 
of the Fourteen Years — Piper Leaps From London Bridge — Gets 
£100 Damages for Wrongful Imprisonment — The Right Honorable 
Henry Matthews — Conclusion, ..... 550 


16 


TICKET OF LEAVE. 





^77 / . 

Order of Licence td'a Convict made Under the Statutes 16 & 17 VicG > 
c. 99, 8. 9, and 27 & 28 Viet., c. 47, 8. 4. 


Whitehall, 
/f day of 
HER MAJE 




grant to 


Who was convicted of 

/lTLju! 




on the /<7*7' of 

then and there sentenced to be kept in R 



18 %/, and was) 


il Servitude for linn linnii i yf' 




and #£ now confined in the Convict Prison, 

Her Royal Licence to be at large tg0A the day of his liberation 
under this order, during the remaining portion of hissaid term of Penal 
Servitude, unless the said 

Shall, before the expiration of the said term, be convicted of some 
indictable offence within the United Kingdom, in which case, such 
Licence will be immediately forfeited by law, or unless it shall please 
Her Majesty sooner to revoke or alter such Licence* 

This Licence- is given subject to the conditions endorsed upon the 
same, upon the breach of any of which it will be liable to be revoked 
Whether such breach is followed by a conviction or not. 

And Her Majesty hereby orders that the said 

be set at Ubert^4nthin TbfifyDays 

from the date of this Order. 

Given under my hand and Seal, 

Si tuned. 


TRUE COPY. 

, \ ■ 

Licence to he at large. 


for 



Chairman of the Direct 
of Convict Prisons . 


R& 3 (23,576ft) 500.4^87 









GEORGE BIDWELL 
(From Photo, by Numa Blanc, Paris, 1872.) 
















AFTER IMPRISONMENT. (From Photo, by Stuart, Hartford.) 


















Chapter I. 


EXPLANATORY. 



URING the past twenty years, hundreds of columns 


A-J have been published in the newspapers throughout the 
world regarding myself and my transactions. Having been so 
freely commented upon by press and public, while it was 
beyond my power to reply, now that I am again free, I feel it 
incumbent on me to publish the true story of my life, which 
will not only correct all mistakes or false reports which may 
have been circulated, but serve as a perpetual warning to the 
young men of America to avoid the temptations by which I 
was beset, and to restrain that inordinate thirst for gold 
which seems fully as insatiable to-day as it was a score of 
years ago. 

The alleged $5,000,000 Forgery on the Bank of England, 
in 1873, is now a matter of history; and as I have been 
regarded the principal character in that transaction, I feel 
sure that no reader will question my ability to “ tell the whole 
truth, and nothing but the truth,” regarding the gigantic 
fraud. My capture, and subsequent incarceration in English 
prisons, are facts as widely known as the forgery itself. 
Before commencing the narrative proper, I desire to picture a 
few of the realities of my prison life, and to explain my pres¬ 
ence in America, a free man. 

Before I had been six months in prison, heavy band-irons 
were riveted around my ankles. These were connected by a 
chain, and I was condemned to wear them day and night, in 
bed and out, for six months. I was also forced to wear a 
parti-colored dress, one-half of the jacket and knee-breeches. 


2 


( 17 ). 



18 


IN CHAINS. 


being yellow and the other buff. I will hereafter describe in 
full, with illustrations, both the ordinary and the punishment 
suits worn by prisoners in the English prisons, and give the 
alleged reasons for my punishment, with an account of what 
I did to incur such a fate. The ultimate consequence of this 
treatment was that, throughout the next thirteen years, I was 
unable to stand upon my feet. During the first five years of 
that period I was never out of the cell in which I was confined, 
except once a month to the bath-room in the ward. After the 
expiration of the five years, I was taken out into the yard for 
an hour each day. This continued for a month, after which I 
was again in the solitude of a cell for the space of two years. 
All this occurred at the Pentonville and Dartmoor prisons. 

In the month of November, 1881, I was removed to the 
Woking male prison, twenty-two miles from London, and con¬ 
fined in a cell about three years longer. 

Throughout these various periods of solitary confinement, 
I never saw the blue sky, the sun, or the twinkling stars. 

During the last five years of my imprisonment my friends 
had been making untiring efforts to obtain my release, but all 
petitions to that end had been rejected by the English govern¬ 
ment. It will be seen that it is exceedingly easy to get into 
an English prison, but almost impossible to get out again. 

I had been incarcerated since March, 1873. On the 18th 
day of July, 1887, I heard hasty steps approaching my cell 
door. The key grated in the lock—the door opened — and a 
prison officer, stepping in, said: 

“ You are free! and I am going to London by next train 
with you! A dispatch has come that you are to be sent at 
once! ” 

This was about 1 p. m. Officers hurried about to get me 
fitted with a suit of citizen’s clothes, shoes, hat, etc. My 
photograph was taken. The medical officer was sent for in 
great haste to examine into my physical condition. In about 
one hour I was on the railway. Can the reader imagine my 
delight at this sudden resurrection from a living grave? 


LIBERTY AT LAST. 


19 


More than fourteen years! Few can form an idea of what 
that means. Fancy yourself being obliged to remain shut up 
in your own house until you had read the Bible through three 
and one-half times, at the rate of one chapter a day. It 
would take 5,231 days. Though I began those years a black¬ 
haired, robust young man, at the end I found myself a gray¬ 
headed cripple; yet, on this first opening of the world anew 
before my ravished eyes, how beautiful everything appeared! 
Even dull-looking old London seemed glorious. And the 
throngs of people in the streets! I could not tire of looking 
at them. I thought to myself: “ These streets have been 
thronged the same each day through all the years that I have 
been in solitude; the lives of these people have been running 
on in various phases, while mine has been standing still! ” 

The English authorities sent two officers in citizens’ clothes 
with me to Liverpool. They were very civil and attentive on 
the journey. They had orders to make the trip without 
attracting attention. I was taken by them on board the 
steamer, and they remained on the wharf until she was under 
way. The Government apparently feared that I, crippled as I 
was, might give them the slip and remain in England, and 
these officers were obliged to report that they saw me sail, and 
to bring a certificate signed by the captain to that effect. 

On the voyage from Liverpool to Queenstown, I saw a man 
who landed at the latter place whom I believed to have been 
sent along to see that I did not leave the steamer there. But 
I was only too glad to take my last look at the coast of Ire¬ 
land, and to see the good steamship Wisconsin in the broad 
Atlantic with her prow turned toward the loved land of my 
nativity, so often visited in dreams through all my years of 
desolation. 

Capt. Bently was the only one on the steamer who was 
informed of my history, and Pftiink he kept the secret. When 
I arrived on board, the warder gave me the first saloon ticket 
which my friends had purchased and given to the English 
authorities. This was taken under a false name, as it was not 


20 


POETRY IN MID-OCEAN. 


desired that my release should become known to the public. 
It was done without my own wishes having been consulted on 
the subject. This proceeding placed me in a false position, 
and for some time I did not feel like joining with the other 
passengers in the various plans for whiling away the time at 
sea. For the time of year the voyage w r as a very rough one, 
and we were greatly delayed by fogs, so much so that the fog¬ 
horn was going most of the time for four or five days. The 
waves washed the length of the deck, and at times poured 
down upon the steerage passengers. On such occasions the 
women and children would scream with terror, believing that 
the ship was going down. 

I passed most of my time during the voyage in writing 
out from memory some thousands of lines of verses which I 
composed in Woking prison. The nature of my occupation 
had been observed, and on the occasion of an evening concert 
got up among the saloon passengers, I was asked to compose 
some verses for the occasion. This request resulted in the 
production of the “Steamer Wisconsin Squibs”, the same 
being received with unexpected favor by the good-natured 
audience. At a subsequent entertainment I was again called 
upon to take a part. I had sent the committee several pieces 
to select from, and they put me down for three recitations. 
I recited “ The Sleigh-Ride ” and “ King Alcohol ”, both selec¬ 
tions from poems composed by me at Woking, which were 
vehemently applauded. Passengers at sea are very easily 
pleased. 

Upon my arrival in New York, August 4, 1887, I found 
the question was being considered whether so dangerous a 
man should be permitted to land on his native soil. The 
conclusion appears to have been that, if I once set foot on 
shore, I could make a fight of it to prevent expulsion and 
exile. 

I was arrested on board the steamer at the Guion line 
wharf as I was about to land, in the presence of my wife, son, 
and sister. The two former had journeyed from New Eng- 


ILLEGAL ARREST IN NEW YORK. 


21 


land to meet me; the latter had accompanied me on the voy¬ 
age from Liverpool. The officers had no warrant for my 
arrest, but had been ordered to bring me to the police head¬ 
quarters on Mott street. They performed their duty with as 
much consideration as the nature of the case permitted. 
They assured my wife that I should not be long detained. 
But their protestations gave her no confidence. While wait¬ 
ing for the steamer, she had read the articles published in 
the papers previous to my arrival, and declared they would 
never let me go free again. She believed that as soon as 
it became known that I was released, the commotion already 
excited by the papers would create such a feeling against me 
that I would be again placed in confinement. It was in vain 
that I assured her that I had expiated my crime and paid 
most dearly for my wrong-doings — that I was, according to 
the law, a free man, and that no one had a right to molest 
me. It is impossible for me to depict the disappointment 
and anguish of that faithful, long-suffering wife, who, after a 
separation of nearly twenty years, believed it was to be in¬ 
definitely continued. 

My wife, sister, and son accompanied me to the police 
headquarters and stood bravely by me. On our arrival there 
the sergeant in charge said to them, “ You can all go now, we 
are going to keep him here until to-morrow.” They refused 
to leave me; but at last being assured they would be permit¬ 
ted to see me at 4 p. m. (it being then noon), they reluctantly 
departed. 

About 2 o’clock I was taken into a brougham by two detect¬ 
ives, driven to a back entrance of the Jefferson Market Police 
Court, and taken through into a private room. In a few 
moments Justice Duffy came in from the public court-room 
where he had been holding examinations, and promptly 
interrogated the officers as to the cause of my arrest. Upon 
discovering that there were no charges against me, except that 
I was considered too dangerous a man to be left at large, the 
judge spoke substantially as follows: 


22 


A RIGHTEOUS JUDGE. 


“ That is no ground or reason whatever for depriving a man 
of his liberty; it is known that the prisoner committed a 
crime in a foreign country, and has paid the penalty by more 
than fourteen years’ imprisonment. It would be against 
every principle of justice to interfere with him, so long as he 
conducts himself like a good citizen. A man may have com¬ 
mitted a crime, and while suffering punishment determine to 
lead an honest life in the future. How unjust, then, as soon as 
he is free, to arrest him as a suspicious character. Instead of 
encouraging a man to lead an honest life, such a course as 
has been taken in this case is the sure way to drive him back 
into crime. It is bad policy, and I trust no similar case will 
occur again. 

“ For these reasons, I order that Bidwell be forthwith dis¬ 
charged from custody, and be allowed a fair opportunity to 
take a fresh start- in life ! ” 

What a friend I had in that righteous judge ! 

I was obliged to return to police headquarters to await the 
arrival of my friends, as I did not know at what hotel they 
were staying. At the appointed time they came, and I was 
at last reunited with my family, from whom I had been sepa¬ 
rated so many years. 

The following editorial article, which appeared in the “ New 
York Herald ” of August 4, 1887, will serve to show in what 
manner my arrest was regarded by unprejudiced, influential 
journals: 

AN OUTRAGE. 

The arrest of George Bidwell on his arrival at this port yester¬ 
day, by two detectives, as related in another column, was a gross 
outrage. 

He was charged with no offense, and, as far as appears, sus¬ 
pected of none. There was no legal ground for his arrest, which 
was made without lawful warrant or authority. The man is an 
ex-convict just released from a British prison, where he has served 
a long term of confinement for forgery. That is no excuse for his 
arrest here. 


THE “INSTANTANEOUS PROCESS ” UNCALLED FOR. 28 

The only explanation of their action the detectives had to offer 
in the police court where they took their victim, was that they 
“ wished to show him to the members of the force so that they 
would know him in the future if he attempted any 1 crooked ’ opera- 
t'ons.” Justice Duffy quickly saw that the prisoner was illegally 
held, and at once discharged him. But he should not have let 
the detectives off without a scathing reprimand that would serve as 
a salutary warning to like offenders in the future. 

There have been too many instances of high-handed doings of 
this sort on the part of detectives. These officers should be given 
to understand that arrests are to be made in accordance with, not 
in violation of the law, and that even an ex-convict has rights that 
are to be respected. 

The press dispatches detailing my return and illegal arrest, 
though containing numerous errors, did much, however, to 
excite sympathy for me throughout the country. 

While I was detained at police headquarters, my photograph 
was taken by the instantaneous process, without my knowl¬ 
edge. In the papers the following day, I read of the theft, 
and that the picture had been given a place in the “ Rogues’ 
Gallery.” My photograph had never before appeared as a 
star in that ill-omened galaxy. But, after becoming a thor¬ 
oughly repentant man, it was then surreptitiously obtained 
and I suppose placed there. 

The portraits of myself which appear among the illustra¬ 
tions in this volume will show that I no longer shrink from 
the gaze of honest people. 

I was discharged from prison in a badly crippled condi¬ 
tion, and suffering from great physical exhaustion, the result 
of a long and terrible incarceration, one almost unexampled 
in modern times. However, the good blood and strong con¬ 
stitution which I had inherited from a long line of pure-living 
Puritan ancestors, endowed me with the power to undergo 
sufferings which would have proved mortal to the majority of 
men. 

The ensuing pages will contain a cursory history of the cir¬ 
cumstances which surrounded my early life in Michigan — 


24 


A DEVOTED WIFE. 


an account of my removal to New York city —my marriage 
to the noble and devoted young lady, who has been spared 
and preserved to care for and educate our children through 
all these long years of undeserved mental suffering, brought 
upon her by my misconduct — my connections with wholesale 
houses, and business success in New York, and how I over¬ 
weighted myself in aiding others — my temptations, and the 
gradual undermining of my honest business principles, up to 
and including a true account of the great forgery on the Bank 
of England, with the events that followed, up to the present 
time. 





























































































































































1 ‘' 

Chapter II. 


MY ANCESTORS — MY PARENTS AND THEIR RELIGION — THE UPS AND DOWNS OF A 
PIONEER’S LIFE IN MICHIGAN — MY FATHER’S BUSINESS FAILURES — I TURN 
PEDDLER AND WOOD-SAWYER TO SUPPORT THE FAMILY — NAUTICAL EXPERI¬ 
ENCES— THE GRAND RAPIDS DISASTER — I GO TO NEW YORK CITY AND BE¬ 
COME A “DRUMMER”—MY UNTIMELY MARRIAGE — SIGNS AND PORTENTS. 

I )OSSIBLY some readers may desire to know something 
of the antecedents of my family. 

John Bidwell came to Hartford in 1634 with Cotton Mather, 
and built the first tannery, grist and saw-mills in the colony. 
His tombstone can still be seen in the old cemetery. 

The Saxon form of the name is Biddulph (War wolf). 

One of William the Conqueror’s generals married the Bid¬ 
dulph heiress, assumed her name, and erected Biddulph castle 
in Norfolk, Eng.,about 1066. This is still in good preservation. 

In Burke’s Peerage, and the Doomsday Book — the latter 
compiled by order of William the Conqueror, between 1066 
and 1100, will be found a record of the family and the coat 
of arms, which is among the most ancient. 

Whatever may belong to hereditary descent, I have had 
one practical benefit from it, the sound bodily health before 
referred to. 

My ancestors left England, like the other Puritans, not 
on account of poverty, but to obtain religious freedom, and all 
down through the generations those of the family who remained 
at the homestead or in its vicinity, attended the old Congrega¬ 
tional or Puritan Church. 

My great-grandfather, Capt. Zebulon Bidwell, was in the 
Northern Army during the Revolutionary war, being killed in 
one of the fights which preceded the capture of the British 
General Burgoyne, at Saratoga. 


( 25 ) 



26 


PURITANIC WAYS. 


I pass along down to my father, who, in 1832, married 
and moved to Bloomfield, Orleans County, New York, where 
I was born. 

When my father was a very young man, the Methodists 
opened a small chapel not far from the homestead; he became 
a convert, forsook the old family church, and joined them. 
My mother also joined them at about the same time, and thus 
two congenial spirits met. 

My parents cared but very little about this world, believing 
it but a place of preparation for the next. From about the 
time their children could “ toddle,” they were forced to go to 
church and sit out hour-long sermons; and woe to the child 
that fell asleep. I could not have been four years old when, 
on one occasion, I fell asleep and was instantly taken out of 
church by my father and well spanked. 

Yet, in matters not pertaining to morals and religion, they 
were ever most loving and indulgent. Sunday was observed 
by them in the old Puritan way. We children must read 
only the Bible, Sunday-school books, Baxter’s “ Saints’ Ever¬ 
lasting Rest,” or Bunyan’s “ Pilgrim’s Progress ” ; and indeed 
Sunday was a “ slough of despond ” to us. 

We were debarred from playing with a kitten or a doll. 
A pack of cards in the house would (we were told) have 
brought down a judgment from Heaven upon us. Even the 
game of checkers was looked upon with suspicion, and regarded 
as a temptation of the devil. 

Dancing was considered an almost unpardonable sin, and 
the violin an especially diabolical instrument. Everything in 
the way of amusement was regarded as time lost in making 
preparations for eternity. 

Am I exaggerating? I am only reproducing from my 
memory an exact picture as left upon my mind by the events 
of those days; and I write with reverence, only desiring to let 
the attentive and thoughtful reader judge what effect such 
teaching probably had upon my character and life; and 
whether the rebound did not at last carry me as far in the 
opposite direction. 


FIRST YEAR IN THE WEST. 


27 


I have endeavored to describe thus briefly the religious 
atmosphere which surrounded me in childhood. But, had I 
lived up to the religion which my parents believed in and 
taught their children, I should never have been forced to 
undergo so much disgrace, nor to have passed so many dreary 
years within the gloomy walls of a prison. 

In 1837 my father went to the then paper village ofLanes- 
ville, Mich., which was situated about fifty miles west of Toledo, 
Ohio; the Michigan Southern Railroad was afterward built 
between the latter place and Chicago, passing through the vil¬ 
lage. It is now the thriving town of Hudson. He there pur¬ 
chased land, and built a house and shop ; then returning east, 
he took his family by the Erie Canal from Medina, N. Y., 
to Buffalo; then by the steamboat “ Erie ” to Toledo. The Erie 
was the first steamboat, I believe, that ever ploughed the 
waters of Lake Erie. At that time the run from Buffalo to 
Toledo took more than three days; a journey which is now 
made in double that number of hours. 

During the first year after our arrival, all of our family of 
six, with the exception of myself, were prostrated with fever 
and ague. As nearly all the other settlers were alike afflicted, 
it was not possible to hire any one to care for the sick or 
render any other assistance; in consequence I, a lad of six 
years, was the “ working force ” through the greater part of 
that long year of deprivation and misery. It seemed mirac¬ 
ulous, under the circumstances, that any recovered; but all 
did, except the youngest, a two-year-old brother. 

At the end of the year my father found himself so deeply 
in debt that his property was all sold for about one-fifth its 
value. Having had our fill of Lanesville, we removed to 
Adrian, in the same State, at that time a growing village. We 
arrived there penniless, but my father soon got a little start 
and opened business in a small way. After I was fifteen 
years of age, my father seemed to rely entirely upon me. 

As before stated, my parents were religious people. Relig¬ 
ion was everything to them, all worldly affairs comparatively 


28 


THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. 


nothing. Yet through all their lives both worked very hard, 
and would make any worldly sacrifice for what, in their opin¬ 
ion, was for the benefit of their children. They believed it a 
religious duty to divide their last crust with the suffering, 
and preferred rather to make friends with the poor and 
down-trodden than with the prosperous. 

My father belonged to the old abolition party. Adrian 
was a station on the “ Underground Railroad,” i. e ., the line 
of travel between the Ohio river and Canada by which fugitive 
slaves escaped, these being carried by wagon-loads in the 
night from the house of one abolitionist to that of another, 
and there secreted during the day. 

It was often a desperate race for liberty, or chains and 
death, until they had got one hundred and fifty miles north of 
the Ohio river. In a village the wagon-load of fugitives 
would be hastily distributed at the houses of the abolitionists. 
I remember hearing some of those secreted at our house tell 
about their marvelous escapes—how they were chased by 
bloodhounds, etc., before they reached the Ohio. 

My father seemed to possess no business qualifications 
whatever. He was honest, simple-hearted, and confiding. He 
would no sooner get a business established than some stran¬ 
ger would come along, worm himself into his confidence, and 
soon have everything in his own hands, leaving my father 
penniless. One of these recurring events happened when I 
was nine years of age; and as my father was in poor health 
at the time, I took to peddling molasses candy and apples in 
a basket, and for a long time brought in enough money to 
support the family. On the occasions of these periodical 
downfalls, neighbors would say to me: “ Your father is too 
honest to live in the West.” It was not that he was too honest, 
but too confiding, and deficient in worldly wisdom. Through 
long years of solitude, while lying crippled in a prison cell, 
the thought often entered my mind that, had my parents been 
more worldly-wise, my fate would have been different. 

In my eleventh year, I bargained with a rich man of the 


AN UNFORTUNATE DECISION. 


29 


place to saw four-foot wood twice in two and split it, for 
fifty cents a cord. I was attending school at the time, and 
one Saturday I set to work, and by noon had so huge a pile 
sawed that, when my employer came home to dinner, he, with 
his wife and daughters, looked at it from the kitchen door 
with astonishment. Soon afterwards this gentleman offered 
to take me to his home, give me an education, and start me 
in a business. His name was Ira Bidwell, a distant cousin. 
He was well known, especially in Michigan, and in St. Paul, 
Minn., later, as a merchant and banker. He was, like my 
parents, a Methodist. His kind offer was not accepted, 
however, my parents believing that the religious training of 
their children necessitated their presence at home. I believe 
this was an unfortunate decision for me. 

When I was about twelve years of age, my father was 
again “ taken in and done for ” by a sharper from Buffalo. 
Believing there was an opening for him in Toledo, Ohio, in 
1845 he removed with the family from Adrian to that place. 
There I set up a street stall for the sale of periodicals and 
apples, trashy novels and candy, lemonade and pocket-knives, 
small-beer and steel watch-chains, etc. 

I succeeded in supporting the family until my father got 
into business again, and continued in trade until I had a 
capital of nearly fifty dollars. With this I bought an old 
steamboat clinker-built yawl, twenty-three feet long, and had 
it half-decked and fitted out as a sloop. My father being then 
in more comfortable circumstances, I passed my summers on 
the Maumee river, making occasional excursions into Lake 
Erie. I was so fond of sailing that I used to go off alone, 
and, after sailing all day, remain in the sloop nights, while 
she lay anchored near the shore, sleeping in the folds of the 
sail. 

When I was about fifteen I took my beloved sloop to a 
ship-carpenter to get the hull sheathed over. The bill was 
about eighteen dollars. I had invested all my money in her, 
but as the carpenter was an old friend of my father, and had 


30 


LOSS OF THE “MAYFLOWERS 


always treated me kindly, I had not a doubt but that be 
would trust me for the repairs. To my surprise and mortifi¬ 
cation he said I must pay the amount at once. As I could 
not do so, he had the boat sold at constable’s sale without 
delay. My father refused to interfere or advance me any¬ 
thing, and so I lost my dear old “ Mayflower.” I had no sus¬ 
picion at the time, but I have since thought there was an 
arrangement between my father and the carpenter to get 
the boat away from me, and thus turn my energies in another 
direction. 

Soon after this event a New Orleans boarding-house and 
hotel “beat” ingratiated himself into my father’s confidence 
and soon became his right-hand man. It was not long before 
my father was again moneyless and out of business. 

I had by this time picked up some knowledge of candy¬ 
making, and we heard there was a good opening for the busi¬ 
ness at Grand Rapids. The last “ruin” had left us with but 
a single horse and wagon. My father borrowed a little money, 
and in December, 1849, he and I left Toledo for Grand Rap¬ 
ids. As the country was deeply covered with snow, and the 
roads but little traveled, and only by sleighs, the track being 
too narrow for our wagon, it was hard dragging one hundred 
and fifty miles. However, we arrived at Grand Rapids a day 
or two before Christmas, rented a small shop, and by working 
day and night, we made up a stock of sugar toys. We had 
brought with us a small stove and the moulds in which to 
cast the toys. On Christmas day we had sold a quantity, 
which left us a profit of thirty dollars, quite a little fortune 
in our pockets. Our next step was to sell the horse and 
wagon for one hundred and fifty dollars. 

We then rented a larger store, and in five years from our 
humble start we were doing a large business in confectionery, 
fancy goods, and jewelry. The business devolved on me 
alone, my father deferring everything to me because of his 
belief in my superior judgment in business matters. 

All others with whom I came in contact seemed to place 


PROSPERITY. 


31 

a like confidence in me, and I began to consider myself capa¬ 
ble of conducting a much larger business enterprise. It may 
be that this conceit and overestimation of my abilities puffed 
me up considerably. It needed but a little imagination to 
picture to myself a near future in which I should become a 
rich merchant. Up to our arrival at Grand Rapids in 1849, 
every enterprise of my father’s had resulted disastrously. 
Now that 1 was at the helm, everything certainly prospered; 
home comforts increased; better educational advantages for 
the younger brothers and sisters were enjoyed. 

I was highly respected by those members of the commu¬ 
nity whose good opinion was worth having; all of whom had 
unbounded confidence in my integrity and business capacity. 
I was observant, anxious for improvement, quick to grasp at 
new ideas, and to ascertain what was in them that might aid 
me to reach the “ El Dorado ” of which I had dreamed, since, 
when in my ninth year, I began to sell apples and candy in a 
basket. The reader may smile to learn that at this time I was 
but sixteen years of age, although I looked much older. At 
eighteen I sported a beard and moustache. Like most boys, 
I was anxious to appear older than I really was, and the 
sturdy frame with which Nature had favored me helped out 
the innocent deception. 

Our business steadily increased, and in course of three 
years our credit became so well established with the mer¬ 
chants of New York, and other trade-centers, that we could 
get all the goods required. We now began to run wagons to 
supply goods to the dealers within a circuit of one hundred 
miles. Although this system worked successfully in more 
populous * localities where the roads were good, it proved a 
failure in the newly-settled State of Michigan. The towns 
and villages were widely scattered, and sparsely populated, 
the roads almost impassable; and the wear and tear of horses 
and wagons, with occasional damage to goods, was to us ap¬ 
palling. With no knowledge of business save what I had 
“picked up,” I could not understand the necessity of an 


32 


RESULT OF “LEGAL ADVICE” 


annual inventory, and had no means of judging what our prof¬ 
its were, except by the ease with which money came in to 
meet our bills. 

After having run the trade-wagons a long time, money 
matters appeared to tighten up with us, and it became more 
and more difficult to make payments. I began to investigate, 
and, to my dismay, discovered that our assets scarcely equaled 
our indebtedness. If at this juncture I had consulted with an 
experienced business man, instead of relying upon my own 
immature judgment, I should have learned that an established 
business with good credit is in itself a capital for a young 
man of energy. To stop the trade-wagons would have been 
to me a 4 great mortification. But that is exactly what an 
older head would have advised; and, as the rest of the busi¬ 
ness was profitable, it is likely I should have remained in 
Grand Rapids to this day. My parents had no suggestions to 
offer, as they were, like myself, quite overwhelmed by the 
result of our six years’ energetic work. I consulted with a 
lawyer, who had lately opened an office next door, but as yet 
having no practice. When I explained the state of affairs he 
evidently saw that his opportunity had come, and he made 
the most of it. He advised me to put all the property into the 
hands of an assignee, the same to be sold and divided as fol¬ 
lows : those creditors who had shown me some attention when 
I had visited their places of business were put in the first 
class, to be paid in full out of the assets. The second class 
was composed of those who had favored me less. These 
came in next if enough were left to pay them. Under such 
an iniquitous arrangement the third class could of course 
receive nothing. Experienced readers need not be told the 
result of such an assignment. As my lawyer doubtless 
expected, the second and third classes of creditors began law 
proceedings to break the assignment and get all the creditors 
put on an equal footing. As a matter of course the lawyers 
got all that the creditors did not. My lawyer skillfully 
arranged about two years’ practice for himself, which estab- 







































































































































































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SUSTAINED BY FAITH. 33 

lished his position at the bar, and he is to-day one of the 
wealthiest lawyers in the State of Michigan. 

That assignment invented by the lawyer has unquestion¬ 
ably affected my whole life. Ever afterwards, when trying to 
get into business, I was haunted by the idea that some claim 
would be brought forward before I was able to pay it. At the 
time of the assignment, I had given up some valuable real 
estate, my own private property, also my gold watch and 
chain, to pay firm debts. I have gone into this* matter some¬ 
what in detail because there are many persons still living ivho, 
doubtless, believe I acted dishonestly. I look back to this 
assignment as the direct starting-point of all my misfortunes. 

My parents also gave up every thing, leaving themselves 
and children destitute. Amid all, my parents never lost one 
tittle of their faith in God’s providence. In fact, despite the 
many adverse instances in which the answers to their prayers 
appeared to “ go by contraries,” I always had a latent, deeply- 
rooted conviction that because of their prayers nothing very 
bad would ever happen to me, and this belief became consola¬ 
tory after I began to grow “ crooked”. Many times when 
lying in the cell of a foreign prison, undergoing dreadful and 
long-continued tortures, I would say to myself: “ 0, would that 
I could believe all that my parents did, and possess the same 
faith and confidence in God ! I should be happy even here.” 
Well, they are gone; and if they are not now enjoying such a 
state of everlasting bliss as they anticipated, they richly 
deserve it. Through all the years of my incarceration it has 
been a great consolation to feel that, as long as they lived, I 
did all in my power to assist them, as well as my younger 
brothers and sisters. 

After I had turned over all the property into the hands of 
the assignee, I left for New York city, determined to seek my 
fortune in a place where so many others had acquired theirs. 
I felt that I possessed energy, perseverance, and physical 
capacity to undergo more hardships and to accomplish more 
work than most young men. Besides this, I was strictly tem- 
3 


34 


A TRUE FRIEND. 


perate, and not addicted to any of the vices so common in 
large cities. In my various trips to New York and other cities 
for the purchase of goods, I had learned that the theaters and 
bar-rooms were well patronized each evening by young busi¬ 
ness men. I had also been told that many were addicted to 
gambling and other vices. I thought to myself: “ If such 
young men give satisfaction to their employers and get on in 
New York, why cannot I?” At this time I was 23 years of 
age. I felt that I ought to succeed. When I turned over my 
own real estate, I received $300 of its value, which enabled 
me to go to New York. 

On my arrival in that city I purchased sugar and shipped 
it to a younger brother in Grand Rapids, to enable him to 
carry on the manufacture of confectionery, and thus support 
the family while I was getting into business. Before he had 
got fairly started, the creditors of my father and myself 
attached the sugar for our debts, and he was forced to submit 
to the loss, which broke up his business. 

Thus, the family were left destitute in Grand Rapids, and 
I was in New York, without employment. I rented a small 
room in Greenwich Street, and eked out my money at the 
cheapest eating-houses, seldom spending more than twenty or 
twenty-five cents a day for food. Day after day I went from 
one wholesale house to another, applying for a situation of 
some kind, but in vain. My money began to run low, and I 
lived on ten or fifteen cents a day. 

About this time I made myself known to Mr. J. Milton 
Smith, Secretary of the Home Fire Insurance Company. I 
had met this gentleman when on a visit in New England. 
He proved a true friend to me as long as I remained in New 
York. If all merchants and business men who are rich and 
prosperous would treat young men, especially those just from 
the country, as this gentleman and his excellent wife did me, 
fewer of them would get among bad associates and be led to 
ruin. Mr. Smith invited me to his home in Brooklyn, and 
his hospitable wife insisted that I must dine with them. I 


ON THE ROAD. 


35 


had eaten only a ten-cent breakfast that day, and they must 
have been astonished at the quantity of food which disap¬ 
peared. However, I suspect those benevolent, noble-hearted 
souls understood the situation, and afterward I had frequent 
invitations to their house. Mr. Smith exerted himself to find 
an opening for me, and at last succeeded in getting me a 

position in the wholesale grocery house of C-0- & Co. 

I knew nothing about the business, but very soon I was 
directed by the firm to make a trip to New London, Norwich, 
Willimantic, Hartford, and New Haven, all in my ancestral 
State. As the grocery men in those places were all strangers 
to me, on my first round I only introduced myself and left 
my card. Three weeks later I made the trip again, and 
found that all remembered me. This time I received several 
orders. I now went around regularly once a month, and the 
number of my customers and the amount of orders constantly 
increased. The orders by mail also increased. Every dealer 
who gave me an order became a regular customer. In 1857 

the firm of C-0- & Co. failed; and as the business 

was wound up, I had to transfer myself and customers to 
another house. By this time I had the control of consider¬ 
able trade, and had no difficulty in getting into the wholesale 
grocery house of Messrs. B- & H-. 

Upon leaving Grand Rapids, I had arranged with my 
parents that they should remain there with their other child¬ 
ren until I had pushed my way into a position whereby I could 
support them. But they were induced to remove to the village 
of Muskegon, to assist in organizing a new society of Metho¬ 
dists, and build a church. 

Muskegon is now a very pleasant city of about 30,000 
inhabitants, and one of the lumber emporiums of this conti¬ 
nent. In 1857, it was a village of wooden huts, cabins, and 
small houses, inhabited principally by lumbermen and those 
“ tough and rough ” characters usually found on the outskirts 
of civilization. . Whisky-selling, gambling, dog-fighting, and 
more brutal animal bipeds bruising each other, was the order 








86 


MARRIAGE. 


of the day. On hearing about their removal, I was much 
troubled, but at the time it was out of my power to do any¬ 
thing. They were not long there before they found out their 
mistake. In order to live, they opened a hotel; some of their 
customers would come and stay a few days, and when my 
father asked them to pay up they would invite him out into 
the street to fight. Evidently they were used to fighting 
landlords, but I do not think my father ever had even an 
angry dispute in his life. The account that reached me of 
the state of affairs hastened my determination to get them 
out of the place, and I could think of hut one way, which was 
to bring them on to New York. This was a very rash under¬ 
taking for a young man not yet receiving more than six 
hundred dollars a year. But I had a fatal confidence in my 
own powers to carry any burden. Besides, I expected to get 
my father a situation of some kind, and my young brother, 
then a lad of twelve, into an office. I sent for the family, 
and at the same time hired part of a house in South Brooklyn. 
They came, and affairs ran smoothly for some months. 

My income rapidly increased. In 1858, I transferred my 

business to the house of J- H- & Co. I had hitherto 

been working on a percentage ; I was now on a regular salary, 
with the promise of twelve hundred after October 1st. On the 
strength of this expectation, I married a young lady with whom 
I had made acquaintance while visiting the old homestead in 
Connecticut. The remarkable prudence she has shown in all 
affairs of her life — her success in bringing up our children 
through all the years of separation — and her adherence to me 
under circumstances which would have irrevocably estranged 
most women—prove that I made a good choice, if she did not. 
Her age at that time was seventeen and mine twenty-six. 
I was already supporting nine persons besides myself, and 
though sanguine of success in business, I felt almost afraid to 
assume another responsibility. But I was deeply in love, and 
I feared that by delay I might lose the dear object of my 




SIGNS AND PORTENTS. 


37 


affections. Therefore, I rashly cast all prudential considera¬ 
tions to the winds, a customary proceeding among lovers. 

I have never been a believer in signs and omens, but on 
my voyage from Rio Janeiro to Marseilles, just previous to the 
great catastrophe of my life, I lost a valuable diamond ring 
overboard. Thirty years since I gave the young lady who is 
now my wife an engagement ring with an opal setting. 
Owing to a family affliction, she was married in black. While 
in an English prison, I read in one of the library books that 
each one of the incidents referred to was ominous of 
misfortune. 








Chapter III. 


OVERWEIGHTED AT THE OUTSET — A STRUGGLE TO SUPPORT DEPENDENT ONES — 
MY FIRST DISHONEST ACT — THE “ PATENT GLOBE COFFEE-ROASTER ” —ARREST 
ON CHARGE OF EMBEZZLEMENT — EXAMINATION AT THE TOMBS POLICE COURT, 
AND DISCHARGE BY U BIG” JUSTICE CONNELLY—THE PHILOSOPHY OF CRIME 
— TWENTY MINUTES OUT OF PRISON—A SUICIDAL RETROSPECT. 



FTER my marriage I took still more active measures to 


/~\ help some members of the family into a position where 
they might be able to earn something towards the general 
support. A man of some means went into the confectionery 
business with my brother, but the copartnership soon resulted 
in a failure. This enterprise, instead of easing my financial 
burdens, only increased them. During this time I was hard 
pushed for means to pay rent and supply food for those 
dependent on me. As my account with my employers was 
kept balanced or slightly overdrawn, on one occasion, after 
returning from a trip, I purposely withheld fifteen dollars 
from my collections. Goods were sold on thirty days’ credit, 
any dealer in good standing being allowed that time. On my 
trips it would frequently happen that I collected the money 
for goods which had perhaps been purchased only a week 
instead of a month. It was one of these advance payments 
that tempted me to retain the amount before mentioned, as a 
temporary relief for pressing necessities. 

Previously, when on my trips, in case I made use of any 
portion of the money collected, for special expenses, I always 
had the deficiency charged to my account, and this had been 
satisfactory to the firm. I argued to myself thus: “ My 
brother is now in business, will no longer need my assistance, 


( 38 ) 



THE DEFICIENCY INCREASED. 


89 


and if I overdraw my account, it will place me in a bad posi¬ 
tion with the firm. This money is not due for three weeks 
yet, and the firm will not look for it before. I am really 
doing them no harm if I pay it over when due. My expenses 
being reduced, I will be in condition to do so, and will be 
careful not to get myself into such a predicament again.” 

I was ashamed to tell my bride of three months that I 
had not money to purchase food for her. Had I frankly 
explained to her exactly how matters stood, all would have 
been well. 

As previously stated, my brother did not succeed in his 
business, and instead of replacing the fifteen dollars at the 
end of the month, I felt obliged to increase the deficiency. 
As the firm had the utmost confidence in my integrity, no 
inquiry was ever made into the accounts of my customers. 
Therefore, although during the next few months the deficiency 
gradually increased until it reached the sum of two hundred 
and fifty dollars, no discovery was made. Through all this 
time my mind was filled with apprehensions of exposure, and 
1 made desperate efforts to extricate myself from the gulf 
into which I was slowly but surely sinking. 

My position was becoming unbearable, and I looked about 
for some honest means to raise money to make good the 
amount I had embezzled. One day a man whom I had known 
at Grand Rapids came into my place of business and showed 
me a “ Patent Globe Coffee-Roaster,” of which he owned one- 
half the patent-right. , He said he had come from the West 
to sell the right, but had not yet been able to do so. He was 
no business man, and I saw at once it was a thing I could 
sell, and told him so. He eagerly accepted an offer which I 
made, and I at once had a cut engraved and some bills 
printed. I also took the sample coffee-roaster to the whole¬ 
sale hardware houses, and in a short time had orders for 
several gross. 

Soon after 1 met Mr. Wilcox, of Roys, Wilcox & Co., Ber¬ 
lin, Conn. He saw there was money in the roaster, and I sold 


40 


TEN DOLLARS HEARD FROM. 


him the half right for one thousand five hundred dollars. 
The owner was greatly pleased at the price, and gave me the 
two hundred and fifty dollars I required to square matters 
with my firm. This I did at once, and found that the defi¬ 
ciency had not been suspected. 

Now, for the first time in several months, I breathed 
freely, and felt that the state prison was no longer staring 
me in the face. If, at any time throughout those months of 
trouble, I had applied to any one of several friends for advice, 
explaining my position, I should have been at once relieved, 
and the calamities which followed would no doubt have been 
averted. But at that period of my life I could not bring 
myself to confess to any one that I had committed a dishonest 
act. 

While engaged with the coffee-roaster, I had neglected, a 
good deal, my grocery business, and had gone to the store as 
seldom as possible. As soon as I had made all square, I gave 
up the place, preferring to abandon it and make a new start 
in life, rather than remain there with the risk that what I 
had done should accidentally be discovered — of course a 
wrong decision. 

Mr. Wilcox, who had purchased the coffee-roaster, gave 
me temporary employment in the house of his agents in New 
York. Shortly after, I received a letter from one of my cus¬ 
tomers, stating that the firm had dunned him for ten dollars 
that he had paid me, and for which he held my receipt. I 
could not recall the circumstance, but suppose it happened in 
this way : On my rounds, the train from Norwich to Hartford 
stopped ten minutes at Willimantic. I had two customers 
there, whose places of business were located opposite the 
depot. When the train arrived it was my usual plan to run 
across, take the orders, give a hastily-scrawled receipt for any 
money paid, and then rush for the train; in the car I would 
look over the collections, and enter the particulars in my 
memorandum-book. I must have neglected to do this with 
the ten dollars—if that was the exact amount of the account 


Hilton. 

IN FORT LAFAYETTE, NEW YORK HARBOR. 


















































































































































































































































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ARRESTED. 41 

paid — or if, as is more probable, the amount was several 
hundred, I had accidentally entered it ten dollars less. 

When I received the letter from Willimantic, my father 
happened to be in my place of business; I at once gave him 
ten dollars, with which he went to my old grocery house, to 
adjust the discrepancy. But Mr. H. had also received a letter 
from Willimantic, informing him that the ten dollars had 
been paid to me. This fact caused him to suspect that other 
sums might have been retained by me in the same way; he 
therefore refused to receive the ten dollars, and stated his 
suspicions to my father, who stoutly maintained that he knew 
me too well, and that such a thing was not among the possi¬ 
bilities. Poor, mistaken old father! To the day of his death, 
he never had the least idea of my struggles, deceptions, and 
(I may as well call things by their right names) crimes, 
throughout the previous months. 

A day or two later a constable arrested me on the charge 
of defalcation. Mr. D., the head of the firm, immediately 
said to me, “ In case you are held and want bail, send for me 
at once.” I thanked him, and accompanied the constable to 
the Tombs police court-room. I was taken into a private room, 
where, a few moments later, Justice Connelly came and began 
an examination into the charge. The prosecutors, Messrs. 

J-, H- & Co., my former employers, were not present, 

but were represented by an attorney. I related to the justice 
the circumstances which must have caused me to make the 
oversight — for it was an oversight. The lawyer had nothing 
to say against me, except that the ten dollars was unpaid. I 
explained to the justice that I had tendered payment, and as 
the lawyer could not dispute the fact, I was discharged. 

In the course of the examination, no allusion was made to 
any previous deficiencies; but I have no doubt this affair 
caused the firm to make a comparison of dates on which I 
received money, as per my receipts, with those on which 
I paid it in, as shown by their books. Happily, I had paid 
all of it in before any discovery was made. 




42 


CRIMINAL PHILOSOPHY. 


The head of the house where I was at the time employed, 
surprised that I should be arrested by my former employers, 
held a consultation with them, and then discharged me. 

Thus, I very soon began to reap the fruit of my first dis¬ 
honest acts. 

This book will doubtless be read by some who are “ in the 
same boat.” Both in and out of prison a great number of 
similar cases have come under my observation; though the 
defalcations usually originated from contact with vile asso¬ 
ciates, fast living, or by “ putting on style ” out of proportion 
to the income. 

As a rule, young people will not listen to the warning 
advice of their elders; therefore, each in his turn, as they 
grow old, have to regret that they did not profit by the expe¬ 
rience and advice of others. Let me conjure all, who find 
themselves in a position similar to mine, to lay aside all 
pride, fear, or shame, and at once seek the counsel and assist¬ 
ance of an elder friend, and give the facts without reserva¬ 
tion. It is treating such a friend unfairly to ask for advice 
and assistance unless a full and frank exposition is made, to 
enable him to look upon the matter in all its bearings. All 
that I have seen convinces me that this is a subject of the 
utmost importance, and that the space devoted to it cannot be 
better occupied. 

Every person who does a wrong act, or commits a crime, 
from the least to the greatest, believes at the moment that he 
or she is justified in so doing. Every man who contemplates 
doing a “ doubtful ” act, in case he is strongly desirous to do 
it, has a way of “ putting ” things before his own mind which 
blinds him to its real nature. At the same time others, who 
notice the action, see clearly that it is wrong. Now, this 
principle in human nature holds good, no matter how low we 
descend into the ranks of the countless millions bound in the 
chains of vice and ignorance. 

Prisoners placed in circumstances where they can talk, do 
so incessantly ; and, as they know little else, their conversation 


CIRC UMSTANCES .” 


43 


naturally reverts to the events of their past lives, in which 
stories of robberies, and revelry on the proceeds, predominate. 
No matter what may be their demeanor towards the authori¬ 
ties, servile or otherwise, they are generally frank, manly, 
and honest in their intercourse with each other. While in 
prison they lead a quiet, regular life, and are not exposed to 
the temptations which surround them on every side when 
free. Under such circumstances, while much of their natural 
predilection to evil and crime comes to the surface, a great 
majority act like well-disposed men, and, so far as they have 
the opportunity, are kind and obliging. 

It has been my good (or ill) fortune to have heard the life 
histories of all varieties of criminals, from the area thief or 
the petty pilferer to the men who have perpetrated atrocities 
as monstrous as any recorded in the annals of crime. Yet I 
have not seen one who had not found a salve for his con¬ 
science — reasons which, to his own mind, rendered his act 
justifiable- to himself. In too many instances the excuse was 
that they were drunk ; indeed there are few convicts who do 
not trace their fall to drinking habits, or to their having been 
left by parents who neglected every duty, and sacrificed every 
other object in life for drink. 

The word “ circumstances ” is perhaps the most important 
one in the language. It is the circumstances which surround 
from birth that make the difference between the judge upon 
the bench and the prisoner at the bar. To exchange each at 
birth into the other’s circumstances, hereditary taint excluded, 
would have reversed the present position. And until this 
fact is accepted, and duly considered, but little progress can 
be hoped for in the reformation of the great mass already 
entangled in the meshes of crime. I feel deeply the impor¬ 
tance of this, for I have seen so many instances of naturally 
good men — young men — who were in prison the second, 
fourth, or even the fifth time. I knew of one who, after under¬ 
going seven years’ penal servitude, was free only twenty min¬ 
utes. This man was sent from the Chatham prison to the 


44 


THE FIRST DOWNWARD STEF. 


Millbank prison, in London, to be discharged. The next morn¬ 
ing he was set free, and hurried down to the Westminster 
bridge to cross to the Southwark side of the Thames, to visit 
his old haunts, and such of his former companions as might 
be out of ,jail or prison. While crossing the bridge, twenty 
minutes later, he espied a woman carrying a hand-bag. As it 
was early in the morning, and but few about, he snatched the 
bag from the woman and made a run to escape, but at the 
end of the bridge rushed into the arms of a policeman. He 
was taken at once before the police magistrate, who commit¬ 
ted him for trial. The grand jury was in session, a true bill 
of indictment was found the same morning, and in the after¬ 
noon he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to ten more years 
penal servitude. The next morning he was transferred to 
Millbank prison, having been away just twenty-four hours 
from the time of his discharge. This is an extreme case, but 
a great majority of the convicts who are discharged from the 
English public-works prisons are not free more than an 
average of one month. 

My object at the present point is to impress upon the 
mind of any reader who is tempted by pressing needs, how¬ 
ever brought about, to take the first plunge into the abyss of 
crime, the importance of avoiding the first step in the down¬ 
ward path, the end of which he is not in the position or state 
of mind to foresee. That path and its end I know but too 
well. I have trodden it to where it embouches within the 
gloomy walls of a prison. 

Would you be a slave of slaves ? Before this book is 
ended, you will see what I mean by that expression. 

The condition of the slaves on Southern plantations was 
most enviable when compared with the lot of prison slaves. 
Many of them had their little homes, not shut in by high 
walls, and the windows not latticed with iron bars. They 
were not precluded from having their wives and children 
around them, and thus were not cut oft from giving vent to 
some of the affections common to all humanity. They were 


THE GRADUAL ADVANCE INTO CRIME. 45 

not obliged to restrain their smiles, their laughter, and their 
tears, under penalty of three days’ bread and water. After 
the day’s labor was done, they could sit at their little cabin 
doors and watch the children playing, or listen to the music 
of the fiddle and banjo, while the younger people joined in the 
merry dance. The air they breathed had a smack of freedom, 
untainted by contact with gloomy walls. At Christmas-time 
they could have some relaxation from labor, and take a part 
in enjoyments unknown at least to English convicts. For 
these there is no relaxation and no change. The same 
dreary round from day to day — the days dragging slowly 
into months — months into weary years, which wear heavily 
on both mind and body, and still no change — no hope save 
in prospective freedom. 

No young man who occupies a respectable position in life, 
or creates one for himself, ever plunges deliberately into 
jcrime. On the contrary, the progress in that direction is so 
slow, so gradual, that, like the hour-hand of a watch, it is un¬ 
noticed. The deluded victim, blinded by conceit and confi¬ 
dence in his own abilities, makes such good excuses to his 
conscience before taking each faltering step that, while still 
regarding himself an honest man, as the world goes, he has 
already reached the brink of the abyss and can no longer 
save himself from the plunge 

Which lands him where the venging furies are; 

Remorse slays Hope, then hurls him to Despair. 

At that stage he says to himself: “ I cannot live under 
this degradation and shame. The power that created and 
rules the universe will justify me in putting an end to my 
life.” But you won’t die ! At the last moment latent hope 
will spring up and prevent you from carrying out your deter¬ 
mination. In my own case, the first night after the sentence 
(and on several occasions afterward, when numerous petitions 
for my release had been refused), I felt that I could not 
endure life longer. Once I got an improvised rope fastened 
in a ventilator above the door, piled some books on a rickety 



46 


OUT OF THE NOOSE. 


stool, and mounting on top put my head into the noose, and 
let my weight tighten it, until the blood was surging tumult¬ 
uously. I was about to kick the books and stool away, when, 
like a flash of lightning, a voice seemed speaking in my buzz¬ 
ing ears : “ If you do this, all is finished! Live, and you may 
be of benefit to your family and mankind ! ” With difficulty 
I removed the noose from my neck, and sank down horror- 
stricken at what I had attempted. 




I 


Chapter IV. 


IN BUSINESS ON BROADWAY — A TYPOGRAPHICAL VILLAIN — niLTON FLOODS THE 
CONFEDERATE STATES WITn SPURIOUS NOTES AND BONDS — HIS ARREST AND 
CONFINEMENT IN FORT LAFAYETTE — LIFE IN LUDLOW STREET .TAIL — OILS THE 
WHEELS OF THE JUDICIAL CHARIOT WITH $40,000 — A FARCICAL PUNISHMENT 
— A QUESTION FOR CASUISTS. 



FTER the ten-dollar affair had thrown me out of employ- 


JTjL ment, I was ashamed to have recourse to any of my 
friends, and being unable to pay rent longer, I sold the lease 
of my house in Brooklyn, together with a part of the furni¬ 
ture, and removed to a suite of rooms in a tenement house in 
New York. I was at that time scarcely able to provide food 
for those dependent upon me. Before long I found a person 
willing to join me in reopening an' old-established bakery in 
Grand Street. It had been closed for some time, a result of 
the death of the former owner, who had made a small fortune 
out of the concern. As we did not understand the business, 
it was not many months before it had to be closed, and I was 
again seeking employment. Having acquired some knowledge 
of the business, I took charge of a bakery for a sale-agent, and 
having within a month found a buyer, I received one hundred 
and twenty dollars commission. 

I now purchased a confectionery business in Broadway, 
mostly on credit. That was a business which I understood, 
but I foresaw that the rent — $3,000 per year—would eat up 
_ the profits, although the business was making money, as I 
was assured by the owner. On account of the debts still 
hanging over me from the Grand Rapids failure, I was obliged 
to do business in my wife’s name. This confectionery busi- 





( 47 ) 



43 


FINANCIERING. 


ness having been, as stated, bought mostly on credit, I was 
just in a condition to take chances, and did not investigate 
very closely. X was only too glad to take hold of anything on 
terms which would, if only temporarily, give support to my 
own and my father’s family. A few months’ trial showed me 
that it was very close work to pay the rent, and that the loca¬ 
tion was too far down town. I therefore found a vacant store 
farther up Broadway, near Bleecker Street, at that time con¬ 
sidered one of the best locations for retail business in New 
York. 

I had taken this store the 15th of September, the rent 
of seventeen dollars for each week-day to begin oh the 1st of 
October ensuing. This interval was allowed me in which to 
put in the fittings and remove from down town. On the day 
of removal I had but sixteen dollars, and was in debt several 
hundreds for labor and material in fitting up. By the terms 
of the lease I was bound to pay the rent monthly in advance. 
How was this to be accomplished ? On the first of October, 
the day on which the new store was opened, I had, neverthe¬ 
less, not only paid the rent but also part of my other indebted¬ 
ness, and had as fine a place as any of the kind then in New 
York. I will now explain the nature of the financiering 
which enabled me to meet those liabilities. It will be seen that 
my plan was not the newest in the world, viz : Paying off one 
debt by making another elsewhere a little larger. Some read¬ 
ers may have heard of such a process even as late as 1888. I 
found a young man with six hundred dollars who offered to 
loan it to me on the security of my store fixtures, provided I 
would employ him at fifty dollars a month as long as I held 
the money, to which I agreed. 

From October 1st to January 1st, the business was so 
prosperous that I had paid off more than four hundred dollars 
of the old debt, and the six hundred to the young man, as I 
did not really require his services. The net profit , for the 
three months was over one thousand dollars. This was the 
retail trade alone; and as I contemplated selling at wholesale 


4 















































































































































































































































































































































































































































1 



















* 


























« 








HILTON'S PLAN. 


49 


in a short time, it seemed clear that I had struck a mine. 
Now let the reader see how I lost that finely-established busi¬ 
ness. It may be remembered that I had some bills printed to 
advertise the “ Coffee-Roaster.” I had by accident ordered 
them of a printer named Hilton; and as he seemed to me a 
fair-minded and honest man, our acquaintance ripened into a 
warm friendship, at least on my part. 

On the first of January, after paying off the six hundred 
dollars, I saw that I needed the use of a like amount for a 
while longer, but believed I could obtain it for less than fifty 
dollars per month. My first intention was to borrow it from 
a wealthy New England relative, but on explaining the situa¬ 
tion to my friend Hilton, he immediately proposed what 
he held to be a better plan. He had only enough means to 
carry on his own business, and as I felt a prejudice, as did my 
wife, against letting any relative know that we were obliged to 
borrow, I accepted his plan, which was as follows : I was to 
give him my notes signed in blank ; he was to purchase goods 
to the amount of one thousand dollars from whoever would 
accept my note in payment. 

It was proposed that the goods should be purchased on six 
months 5 credit; these I was to sell, at perhaps a small loss, 
and have the use of the money until the note or notes became 
due. The plan on paper looked fine ; but as I afterwards dis¬ 
covered, it not only ruined my reputation, but got me “ taken 
in and done for ” in an exceedingly “ clever way ” (as the 
English put it). The reasons Hilton gave for wanting 
more than one note, and those signed in blank, were, to give 
his own words, “ I don’t know what amount I shall buy at 
one place, and can fill out the note accordingly. Of course 
the people to whom I give the note will think it is one which 
you have paid out in the regular course of business. If they 
come to ask you about it, tell them it is all right, and will be 
paid when due.” I had no objection to doing this, for I had 
not a doubt of my ability to meet the obligation. The next 
day a gentleman called and showed me my note for five on 
4 


50 


NOTES AND NOTES. 


six hundred dollars, and asked me if I expected to pay it at 
maturity. I replied, “ Certainly,” and he went away. I saw 
Hilton the same evening and asked him if he had received 
the goods for my note. He replied: “ The merchant was 
not satisfied, and concluded not to accept it in payment for 
the goods.” “ What did you do with the note ? ” I asked. 
“ I tore it up,” he replied. Having complete confidence in 
his integrity, and above all in his friendship, I did not distrust 
him. The next day another note was brought to me with pre¬ 
cisely the same result. 

Hilton came to me for more blank notes, and I gave 
him a number, but, as a business precaution, required him to 
give me the same humber of his own signed in blank. The 
readiness with which he complied increased my confidence 
that he was acting toward me in good faith. 

For the next month, gentlemen frequently came to me 
with my notes for various sums; and, incredible as it may 
seem, I continued to swallow down Hilton’s assurances 
that the parties, after making inquiries, had refused to com¬ 
plete the transaction. With childlike simplicity I also ac¬ 
cepted his assurance that he always destroyed the notes. 
Owing to circumstances, I did not ascertain the entire truth 
until several years afterwards, or just before I left for Eng¬ 
land— an excursion which cost me the best years of my life. 
These are the facts: Hilton had discovered the names and 
addresses of my references, who were business men of high 
standing in New York. He did not make the purchases in 
person, but through a broker. This man paid for the goods 
with my notes, giving the names of my references, then 
delivered them over to Hilton. When I left New York, 
later on, to sell my new invention (see next chapter), he still 
had a number of my notes signed in blank, and, on the 
strength of the references, continued to “ buy ” goods — how 
long, and to what amount, I have never known to this day. 
At all events, money represented by the amount of the notes 
brought to me for only a month, before I left New York, must 


THE BAD , BAD PRINTER. 


51 


have been twenty thousand dollars, and from facts discovered 
later I am satisfied that Hilton received goods, of all kinds, to 
the amount of thirty or forty thousand dollars. 

Some months later I called on Mr. Erastus Titus, one of 
my references above mentioned, to pay a balance of twenty 
dollars due him. He not being in, I paid the amount to his 
son, Erastus Titus, Jr. — still a resident of New York — and 
subsequently I had frequent occasion to recall a remark which 
he made when I handed him the money: “ I always said that 
you would pay us.” 

At the moment the remark seemed to be apropros to 
nothing, and I let it pass; but occasionally afterwards, when 
I came in contact with those who had known about my Broad¬ 
way business, I could perceive from their manner that some¬ 
thing was wrong. These had doubtless heard of the huge 
swindle which Hilton had perpetrated in my name, and 
supposed that I, being the chief actor, of course “ knew all 
about it,” and thought any reference to the subject might 
hurt my feelings; therefore I obtained no clue to the truth 
until long afterwards, as explained elsewhere. It was in 
some degree the inexplicable “cold-shouldering,” as above 
intimated, that helped me onward in the path which led 
ultimately to the great catastrophe of my life. 

In all such cases it would be better to state frankly to a 
friend what is causing one to regard another coldly, thus 
giving an opportunity for explanations which would relieve 
or confirm the suspicions. 

The “ goods ” comprised furniture for a four-story, brown- 
stone front in upper New York, where I afterwards called on 
Hilton; horses and carriage, printing machinery and ma¬ 
terial, etc. He conducted this matter so skillfully that, for 
years after, although I saw his style of living was wonderfully 
improved, I never even suspected that he had received any¬ 
thing for the blank notes I had put in his possession. Indeed, 
I felt so confident he had destroyed them, that in turn I 
destroyed those he had given me, although some years after I 


t 


52 


IN LUDLOW STREET JAIL. 


discovered one which had been overlooked. All this occurred 
in the year 1862. During the Rebellion, this man Hilton 
went into the manufacture, in New York, of blank notes and 
bonds for the Confederate government. Of course he had to 
do all this secretly, and get his productions smuggled through 
the lines. 

I was not aware of this till I called at the Ludlow Street 
jail, in 1864, in response to a letter he had written me. He 
was then confined by order of the United States government. 
He had been imprisoned at first in Fort Lafayette. The 
means acquired by the negotiation of my notes had enabled 
him to enlarge his printing establishment, and open a book 
printing and publishing house. He had soon after begun 
printing Confederate notes and bonds, and had thus made a 
good deal of money. He had previously so much faith in my 
verdant simplicity, combined with stupidity, that he — up to 
the time I left for England — told me all his secrets without 
reserve, and especially after he became aware that I had 
taken to u ways that are dark ” to obtain money. When I 
saw him in Ludlow Street jail, or “ House of Detention for 
United States Prisoners,” as its numerous inmates called it, I 
found him seated in the interior court-yard, tipped back in 
his chair against the wall, with his heels up in true Saratoga 
style. At that time I had never been imprisoned, and my 
ideas of the internal management of jails and prisons were as 
crude as those of ordinary outsiders. Finding him in such a 
place, apparently so comfortable, about the following con¬ 
versation ensued: 

“Well, old fellow, you don’t seem to be in such bad 
quarters, after all. I thought they had you behind the bolts 
and bars.” 

“ Oh,” he replied, “ I make that all 0. K. I have only to 
' give the keepers a proper 4 douceur ’ to do as I like. I am out 
here or walking about the place all day, and in the evening, 
after there is no longer danger of a visit from any of the 
government authorities, one of the keepers goes home with 


A CONFEDERATE CONTRACT. 53 

me. You see I take supper and breakfast at home, and get 
back here in good season in the morning. ,, 

“ But what about your dinner, cigars, etc. ? ” 

“ My dinner is sent to me from a restaurant, and I send 
out for cigars, fruit, or anything else I want.” 

“ Does the time hang at all heavy on your hands ? ” 

“ Oh, no; I read the papers, have a game of billiards with 
one of the deputy marshals in the officers’ quarters, see any 
friends who may call, adjust and arrange business matters 
connected with the printing-office, and before realizing it the 
time has come for me to start home.” 

“ But how did you get into this scrape ? ” 

“ I had a contract from the Confederate government to 
engrave the plates and print fifty million dollars of their 
blank notes and bonds. I purchased the tools and material 
required, and had some reliable men — I mean good rebels — 
who understood engraving, printing, etc., sent to me by the 
Confeds. These men worked all night in my establishment, 
while I carried on the usual business in the daytime. They 
came to the printing-office after my day workmen had gone 
home. I let them in from a side street, and they left early 
enough in the morning to avoid any contact with the day 
hands. Everything connected with the Confederate job was 
locked in a room of which I held the key. I struck off several 
million dollars, and smuggled all through the lines safely to 
Richmond. The Confederate government had agreed to pay 
me in gold, but they were so hard up that I received nothing.” 

“ Well, what did you do then ? ” 

“ I found that the two skilled workmen sent me by the 
Confederate government were quite willing to take part in 
a new scheme which suggested itself as soon as I found the 
Confeds had gone back on me, and that was to fill in our blank 
bills, notes, and bonds, with the names of Jeff. Davis and oth¬ 
ers, in exact imitation of the genuine signatures of which I 
had specimens.” 

“ But, my dear fellow, that was forgery, was it not ? ” 


A 


54 


THE MAN WHO PUT DOWN THE REBELLION. 


“ Forgery be-! Why, it was aiding the government 

to squelch its enemies and to put down treason and rebellion, 
by weakening their credit! Don’t you see that by flooding 
the South as I have done with the counterfeit, that the rebels 
themselves have begun to distrust all the genuine paper issued 
by their own government ? Can’t you realize that I have done 
more than the armies to break the backbone of the rebellion ? 
And see how I am served! ” 

At this point he became very indignant; and I may 
remark that my pseudo friend was not the only one who, in 
those stirring times, was changed from a warm rebel sympa¬ 
thizer into a good patriot by imprisonment in the casemates 
of Fort Lafayette. 

“ By some means,” Hilton continued, “ the U. S. Marshal 
got an inkling of what I was about, and had my place watched 
until he was satisfied of the truth of his information. He 
then made a descent on my printing-office, and carried off 
every thing connected with the engraving and printing of 
blank notes. At the same time he had me arrested, and con¬ 
signed to pace the ramparts of Fort Lafayette by day, and 
sleep in one of its bomb-proofs by night.” 

“ That was rather rough on you, but you had put your 
foot into the trap in the first place by supplying the rebels 
with the sinews of war, and I am rather of the opinion you 
have got your just deserts ; but tell me how you got trans¬ 
ferred from Fort Lafayette ? ” 

“ By using twenty thousand dollars in lubricating the 
wheels of the law machine, the same as I use oil to make my 
printing-machinery run smoothly.” 

“ Very good ; but how are you going to get out of the fix ? ” 

“ Oh, I have made that all O. K., and will be free in a few 
days; but it has all cost me a mint of money, and I shall be 
hard up again for some time, especially as I can’t run the 
‘ Confederate ’ any longer.” 

I have recounted this conversation of Hilton’s as an ex¬ 
ample of how men in their own estimation never do wrong, 



A GREAT MORAL QUESTION. 


55 


and how they plaster that word over in their consciences. 
Readers who are skilled in the science of casuistry may solve 
this problem: Was it right for Hilton to forge the names 
of Jeff. Davis, Benjamin, and other Confederate government, 
officials, if he really intended to flood the rebel States with 
counterfeit bank and treasury notes for the ultimate purpose 
of crippling that government ? 








Chapter V. 


I INVENT A STEAM-KETTLE AND OBTAIN A PATENT — THE BROADWAY BUSINESS 
BROKEN UP—MY TEMPORARY DISCOURAGEMENT — ATTEMPT TO ESTABLISH A 
FACTORY IN TORONTO — CONFIDENCE IN U. S. GREENBACKS—GOLD ON THE 
“RAMPAGE” — $ 10,000 REDUCED BY EXCHANGE TO $ 3,000 — RETREAT TO CHI¬ 
CAGO — FRANK KIBBE, THE MERCHANDISE SWINDLER — I MEET HIM IN BUFFALO 
AND BALTIMORE—KIBBE, FEARING ARREST, INDUCES ME TO COLLECT $ 1,000 — 
A “CROOK’S ” CHANCES OF ESCAPING IMPRISONMENT. 


W HILE Hilton was trying, as I supposed, in vain to get 
me the small amount I lacked to make my business 
easier during the dull months of January and February, I had 
evolved out of my brain an improved steam-kettle; and as 
soon as I saw the Hilton plan was liable to fail, I deter¬ 
mined to raise the necessary capital from my invention. 

I left the store in charge of a brother-in-law, before then 
out of employment, and, with his family, living at my house. 
He was an utter failure as a business man, though a “ plod¬ 
der ” who afterwards became rich in the “ turtle ” way. 

I learned subsequently that, when any one came into my 
Broadway store and asked where I was, or any other question, 
he would not look at them, but remain in stupid silence. I 
doubt not but some of those to whom Hilton paid my notes 
called to see me, and being thus treated thought I must have 
ran away, and later conferred with my landlord. At all 
events he called to see me, and being thus received, went 
straightway and let the store for the following year to another 
party. 

In the meantime, with no suspicion of what was passing 
in New York, I was having unexpected success with the sale 
of my steam-kettle, and sent home several hundred dollars to 

( 56 ) 












































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































* 




‘ 


' 







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' 













































































MOURNING GOODS.' 


57 


pay the next month’s rent and other expenses. Of course 
I was in high spirits, believing that I was, after all my 
struggles and vicissitudes, fairly settled in a money-making 
business, and that I should be no longer cramped for means 
to carry it on. 

I wrote to my wife frequently, but as I was going from 
place to place I could not tell definitely where a letter would 
reach me. At the end of four weeks I had received none, 
and I started for home triumphant, having cleared above ex¬ 
penses more than one thousand dollars. On my arrival in 
New York I was utterly dismayed at finding the store closed, 
and a placard in the window which read thus: “ This store 

will be occupied by Messrs.-, with a full assortment of 

Mourning Goods of the latest Parisian styles. Opening day 
on Wednesday, May 1,1863.” 

During my absence the business had been grossly mis¬ 
managed ; and it appeared that my brother-in-law accepted of 
a small sum from the new lessees to vacate the store at once 
— a transaction on a par with his other business achieve¬ 
ments. 

I learned that the gentlemen who had rented the store 
while I was absent, paid four hundred dollars for the privi¬ 
lege of possession before the first of May. Had not the 
store been closed on my arrival, I could in all probability 
have held possession. 

Thus, I found myself once more afloat, and for a few days 
was greatly depressed and discouraged. Very soon I left 
New York with my only remaining hope, my steam-kettle. 
Those who had been victimized by Hilton with my notes, 
after the Broadway store was closed did not know where to 
find me, and as the notes became due I received no notice 
from the holders of my paper. Had I received a single notice 
I should have discovered all the facts. If I had remained in 
New York, the gentlemen who acted as my references would 
have informed me; although Hilton had taken every precau¬ 
tion to cover his connection with the business by the employ- 



58 


HOW “ FRESH ”/ 


ment of a broker, I believe there was sufficient evidence to 
have shown up the whole affair. 

The breaking up of my Broadway business started me on 
the journey which brought me in contact with one of the most 
skillful commercial swindlers ever known—Frank Kibbe, of 
whom the reader will learn more about hereafter. 

Within a few months, I had made several thousand dollars 
from the sale of my steam-kettle, and I began to think of 
establishing myself once more in business. 

During my travels, I had made a short stay in Toronto, 
and had ascertained there was an excellent opening there for 
a wholesale confectionery business. 

I soon hired a large warehouse well suited to the purpose, 
and fitted it up in proper shape. I sent for my family to 
remove from New York, and soon after their arrival I had 
the factory in operation. Now for the first time in my life I 
had started a business on a safe foundation, with ten thousand 
dollars to carry it on. People conversant with my previous 
mishaps said: “ Surely, Bidwell has the thing right this time.” 
But he did not have it right. It would be difficult for the 
reader to imagine how I was obliged to abandon the business 
almost at the start. 

When I first concluded to make the venture, gold was at 
a premium of about twenty per cent., greenbacks being worth 
about eighty cents in gold. I reasoned thus to myself: 
“ There is no better security in the world than a United 
States greenback, and it is absurd that it should not command 
its full value in gold. Other people must look at the matter 
in the same light, and see that it is nothing but the operations 
in Wall Street that put greenbacks below par. Such an un¬ 
natural state of things cannot continue, and it will not be 
long before the good sense of the majority will predominate 
and the bills be worth their face.” 

That sort of reasoning shows how “ fresh ” I still was in 
financial matters. I kept on investing in the Toronto busi¬ 
ness, holding my capital in greenbacks to exchange for Can- 


BUFFALO , BILLIARDS , 4JV7) BALTIMORE. 59 

ada money only as fast as became necessary. Gold kept going 
up, up, till by the time I had my factory ready for successful 
operation it had reached above two hundred and eighty. 

To exchange my ten thousand at the rate current in To¬ 
ronto would leave me with only about three thousand dollars 
capital. I regretfully abandoned the business, with the loss 
of three-fourths of my capital; for, in order to close up mat¬ 
ters, I was obliged to sell one hundred dollars in greenbacks 
for thirty dollars in Canada currency, which was the equiva¬ 
lent of gold. At this time, I sent my father, with the others 
of the family, to Chicago, and for the first time since marriage 
my wife and I were living by ourselves. 

Previous to the Toronto fiasco, while staying at a hotel in 
Buffalo, engaged in the sale of my patent kettle, I had gradu¬ 
ally fallen into the habit of passing a part of my time even¬ 
ings either in watching the game of billiards, or in playing 
myself. On several of these occasions I had noticed a man 
playing, who was also a guest at the hotel. His general 
appearance was that of a business man. He was above the 
medium height, slim, with auburn hair, light complexion, a 
blonde mustache, and a pair of noticeably large, light-blue, 
restless eyes. He, like myself, seemed to be alone, and to 
have considerable leisure. One evening I was watching a 
game, when he came forward and asked me to play. I 
accepted the invitation, and had several games with him before 
I left Buffalo. 

Some months after this, I was staying at the old Fountain 
Hotel in Baltimore. I found the restless, shifty-eyed man, 
whose acquaintance I had formed in Buffalo, stopping at the 
same hotel, and on the strength of the former meeting we 
passed our leisure time in playing billiards. He led me to 
believe that he was traveling on some kind of mercantile 
business, and it was not long before I told him about my steam- 
kettle. He gave me his name as Frank Kibbe, and my 
acquaintance with that man proved the most unfortunate 
event of my life. With the exterior and manners of a business 


THE ROGUE.' 


60 

man — active and indefatigable in the prosecution of his pro¬ 
jects — insinuating in his demeanor toward strangers — plausi¬ 
ble and fluent in speech — in private life uncommonly dissolute 
— fickle and false toward those with whom he became in any 
way connected,—he did not possess even the redeeming trait 
known as “ honor among thieves.” Frank Kibbe, who came 
to be known as “ The Rogue,” would resort to any means to 
obtain money with which to conduct the worship of his god 
and goddess, Bacchus and Venus. He was a most detestable 
coward, although among acquaintances a blatant braggart. 

I have known but one other man who resembled “ The 
Rogue ” in personal appearance, being his opposite in every 
other trait except that of cowardice. In this George Engles 
was the former’s equal, and up to the time I got into an Eng¬ 
lish prison he had evaded paying any legal penalties for the 
forgeries which had brought him in several hundred thousand, 
and secured him the title of “ The Terror of Wall Street.” Later 
on I shall have something more to say of this man and his 
operations in Wall Street and elsewhere. 

After a few days Kibbe saw fit to take me into his confi¬ 
dence. He told me that he had a commission office in Bal¬ 
timore, and after some skirmishing about, finally divulged 
that he was afraid to go to his office for fear of being arrested 
by his creditors. 

“ I received some goods from New York,” said he, “ and 

have turned them over to Messrs.- & Co., commission 

merchants, to sell for me. I have not paid for them yet, 
and am afraid to go to collect the proceeds of their sale. 
Now, I will give you an order for the goods, and if you will 

take it and collect the money from- & Co., I will give 

you one-half.” 

I saw that there was no risk in accepting and executing 
the offer. During my connection with New York houses, and 
in the struggles of the previous few years, the strict business 
integrity which I had brought from Michigan to New York 
had been slowly but surely undermined, so that I had become 



A MONEY COLLECTION. 


61 


satisfied that if I lived up to legal honesty, it was all required 
of me by the generality of men. I had reached the point 
where the only question which presented itself was : “ Shall 
I get into trouble by doing so and so ? ” Not, “ Is this thing 
right — shall 1 be doing as I would wish to be done by ? ” 

I recalled how Mr. 0-, a partner in the house where 

I was first engaged in New York, then esteemed an honorable 
man, and now one of the magnates in Wall street, who, when 

his house failed, and I had located with B- & H-, 

brought in one of his former customers, and recommended 
him for credit. With the goods thus obtained the customer 
paid, as doubtless previously agreed between them, an old debt 

he owed Mr. 0-’s house, then failed himself, and the house 

of B- & H-got nothing. Although that man was not 

my customer, and I had no acquaintance with him, the fact 

that I was then with B- & H- was what influenced 

Mr. 0-to bring his debtor there. At any rate the firm 

regarded the matter in that light, and it was a prime cause of 
their unfair treatment of me after that occurrence. 

I agreed to Kibbe’s proposition, and on presenting the 
order at the commission house, I was at once paid the pro¬ 
ceeds of the sale, about one thousand dollars. Instead of 
keeping the whole amount as Kibbe would have done, I 
returned to the rendezvous and paid him one-half as agreed. 
He seemed, evidently, a good deal surprised at my good faith 
in handing him the money. All this time I was doing well 
with my steam-kettle, and slowly accumulating capital for a 
fresh start. After I had paid Kibbe the five hundred dollars 
he revealed to me how he managed, without cash payment, to 
get the goods shipped in large quantities to any address and 
place he desired. Had I not just returned from collecting 
one thousand dollars for goods acquired in that manner, I 
could not have believed it possible ; but, as will be seen, the 
scheme was not only possible, but not at all difficult. After 
he had let me deeper into the secrets of his business I could 
not restrain the thought, “ Surely, Kibbe’s method of doing 
business beats my steam-kettle all to nothing! ” 










62 


THE SURE RESULT. 


It lias been a question with me as to whether revelations 
regarding the modus operandi of swindling in its various 
forms would be productive of rnbre evil than good. On the 
one side there may be some who will imagine that they have 
only to go and do likewise, in order to sweep in money with¬ 
out stint. On the other will be merchants and business men, 
especially the inexperienced, who will learn how swindlers 
operate, and be placed upon their guard. 

To any who may be already reduced to that state of mind 
and laxity of true business principles which would prompt 
them to apply anything they read here to aid in obtaining 
money dishonestly, I will make a few observations. First, 
whatever success you might have at the start, the result can 
only prove disastrous; that you may rely upon. 1 go farther: 
no person can commit a moral or physical wrong without in 
some way paying for it thereafter. For striking examples of 
the truth of this axiom, see other chapters. 

When I first joined Kibbe, the plans of swindling here 
revealed were unknown to the police, and so far as they were 
concerned, we had little to fear; still it will be seen that we 
got into trouble occasionally. Though we caused merchants 
to lose goods amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, 
we lost the proceeds of their sale in one way and another; 
and I think I may safely make the assertion that?* but one 
swindler ever known to me escaped final punishment in a 
prison. That man was George Engles, the bank forger, who, 
through not being imprisoned, and giving full reign to indul¬ 
gences, died prematurely; whereas incarceration at intervals, 
where he must have lived steadily, would have given his phys¬ 
ical system an opportunity to recuperate, so that he would 
have survived, perhaps, to old age. 

The last sentence contains a truth applicable to the 
lives of all criminals, and the question it suggests is worthy 
to be considered by our legislators and reformers. 

While in prison myself, I took every opportunity to ques¬ 
tion prisoners of all classes, from the sneak thief to the bank 


WORK OF THE “ BOOZE: 


63 


and jewelry burglar, as to the chances of escaping imprison¬ 
ment. The reply was generally to the following effect: 
“ Well, we all get there, first or last. Some fellows have better 
luck than others. The most of us are no sooner out than we 
are 4 copped,’ sometimes the very first time we try to 4 pull a 
swag.’ After a man has been in once, he seldom keeps out 
more than twelve or eighteen months, and but few so long as 
that. It depends a good deal on the 4 booze’; if a man boozes 
much, he’s safe enough to be on the wrong side of the bars 
within a few days or weeks. Most of us would have been 
killed long ago by drink and dissipation, if we had been let 
alone; but they run us in, and by the time the * lagging ’ is 
done we are free of disease and ready for another splurge.” 




Chapter VI. 


A SWINDLING COMMISSION HOUSE — KIBBE ABSCONDS WITH $ 20,000 — I TRACE HIM A 
THOUSANDS MILES—THE BOGUS FIRM OF HENRY HARVEY SHORT & CO., BUF¬ 
FALO— “THE ROGUE” RUN TO EARTH — HIS RACE FOR LIBERTY — ARRESTED 
BY A DETECTIVE — $000 WORTH OF “ PALM-GREASE ”— THE DETECTIVE ASSISTS 
HIM TO “ SKIP” TO CANADA — INJURED INNOCENCE OF THE CHIEF OF POLICE — 
KICKED OUT—I BRING KIBBE TO BAY—SOME OF HIS “COMMERCIAL” TRANS¬ 
ACTIONS EXTRACTED FROM THE “ NEW YORK TRIBUNE.” 



FTER a few days had elapsed, Kibbe suggested the idea 


l\ of going to another city and opening a “commission 
house.” I readily agreed to his proposition, and very soon 
we “ dropped down ” in Providence, R. I. We rented a large 
store immediately without payment in advance, for when I 
went to see the owner he appeared satisfied that everything 
was all right and gave me the key. We had a magnificent 
sign put up, and furnished the office with desks, a set of books, 
and a full supply of stationery. As soon as we were ready for 
business, we sent several small orders to New York and other 
places. Before leaving New York we had purchased and paid 
for one hundred barrels of flour, and other saleable bulky 
goods, enough to make a show in our new store. 

We opened an account at a bank and deposited two or 
three thousand dollars. All this had been accomplished with¬ 
out giving any references, and under false names. False 
names ! I had, up to the hour of meeting “ The Rogue ” in 
Baltimore, considered that any man who would resort to the 
use of another name than his own, was beneath contempt. 
Alas! that I had sunk so low and taken such a stride into 
crime in so short a time ! 

In addition to Kibbe’s specious arguments, and the more 
substantial influence of the $500, which fell to my share in 


( 64 ) 





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BEAT BY A “ BEAT. 


65 


Baltimore, I attempted to justify my actions to my conscience 
in this wise: “ It is dishonest for a man to obtain goods on 
credit when he has a doubt of his ability to pay for them; and 
still worse if he purchases with no intention to pay. But 
the first is done every day by firms that are in a shaky 
condition, with the hope that they may tide over their diffi¬ 
culties. The second is also of frequent occurrence, where 
firms know that they are going to fail and expect to make a 
settlement with their creditors at, say, twenty cents on the 
dollar. In regard to those loose merchants who deliver their 
goods to strangers, without references, they deserve a lesson 
on ‘ how to do business,’ and the loss of a few hundred dollars 
is but a fair price to pay for their schooling.” Of course this 
was false reasoning on my part, but it shows again how prone 
men are to argue in a way that makes the conclusion coincide 
with the desire. 

All the small orders we had sent by mail were shipped and 
duly received by us. We soon sent checks to pay for these, 
and ordered at the same time a larger bill. Our store was 
soon crammed full of goods, which we sold, paid for, and 
then made still larger orders. These were filled, and while 
some of the shipments were on the way, Kibbe arranged with 
me to go to New York. He was to remain behind and sell 
some of the goods, but the bulk of them were to be shipped 
to me. Accordingly I left for New York via Boston. On 
arrival I found neither goods nor letters, as had been agreed. 
Becoming suspicious, I took the first train back to Providence, 
and arriving the following morning, found the store closed. 
On inquiry I ascertained that Kibbe had sold out the stock 
to a wholesale grocer at a considerable discount for cash, and 
had left for parts unknown. I found about two thousand 
dollars’ worth of goods at the depot, which I sold—and then 
followed his example. 

The result of this operation was, that I left with about the 
same sum that I had when we started the swindle. This was 
but an example of how swindlers occasionally “ beat ” each 
other. 


5 


66 


ON THE WAR-PATH. 


As Kibbe and myself were passing along Broad Street the 
evening before I left for New York, he halted in front of a 
jewelry establishment, and pointing out a cross set with dia¬ 
monds said: “ I am going to have that; just wait here a 
moment.” He entered the place, and through the window I 
saw him present our business card to the proprietor, who then 
came to the window and taking out the cross handed it to 
him. “ The Rogue,” after a little delay, came out, and show¬ 
ing me the cross exclaimed triumphantly : “ Everything is 
lovely, and the goose hangs high; he is coming down to the 
office in a few days to get a check in payment for this $400 
cross.” As we had closed our place of business before he 
came, not again to reopen, it is superfluous to remark that 
the jeweler called in vain for the check. 

Kibbe, having “ left me in the lurch,” as stated, in com¬ 
pany with a friend I started on a hunt to find him and make 
him disgorge the $20,000, or all he had. We first went to New 
York, but could find no trace of him anywhere in the city. I 
now procured a false beard for my friend, and having shaved off 
my own, we thought ourselves so thoroughly disguised that 
Kibbe could not recognize us. We took the Hudson River 
steamer for Albany; but there we could see nothing that looked 
like a bogus commission office. Our plan was to go through the 
business streets, and wherever we saw a new sign to satisfy 
ourselves that Kibbe had nothing to do with it; also to visit 
the principal hotels at the dinner-hour and watch, one of us 
the public, the other the private entrance. Finding no clue 
in Albany, we decided to start for New Orleans via Buffalo, 
Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis. We 
stopped over at Rochester and one or two other of the larger 
places on the line of the New York Central Railroad, at length 
reaching Buffalo. In passing along Main Street I suddenly 
exclaimed: 

“ Hello! see that new sign across the street, ‘ Henry 
Harvey Short & Co.’ I think it has a Kibbe look.” 

“Oh, don’t flatter yourself with any such good luck,” 
replied my friend. 


SLIPPERY AS EVER. 


67 


“Well, let us make an investigation of the establishment,” 
said I. We soon found a suitable place for him to put on his 
false beard, and he started on a reconnoitering expedition, 
while I remained at some distance away, but yet in sight of 
the suspected place. He went into the store, and very soon 
came back and joined me. 

• “ Well, friend, what did you see ?” I asked. 

“ I saw no sign of Kibbe,” he replied; “ but there was a 
young man sitting in the office, who pretended to be very 
busy- writing when he saw me enter. There was a set of new 
books, and the place had a new look all around. The store 
runs back to the next street, and is about one hundred and 
fifty feet deep, with no merchandise in it.” 

“ Very well, my boy,” said I; “it is now one o’clock, and 
the young man will soon be going out to lunch, and if he is 
with Kibbe, will go to meet him, for he seldom goes to his 
place of business. You keep me in sight, and when the young 
man comes out I will follow him.” 

I had not waited long before the young man came out of 
the store and went straight to Bonney’s Hotel, which was at 
that time a high-class commercial place. After he had dis¬ 
appeared within, I walked carelessly into the office, examined 
the register, and thought one of the names entered looked 
like Kibbe’s writing. I left the hotel, and sent back my 
friend to inquire if Mr. Kibbe was in. The hotel clerk said 
he thought not. I afterwards learned from Kibbe himself 
that he was at that identical moment in the dining-room, and 
that as soon as my friend had retired, the clerk went into the 
dining-room and whispered to him that a suspicious-looking 
man with a bushy beard had just inquired for him. 

In the meantime I had hastened to the police headquarters 
near by, and got a detective to come with me to the hotel. 
When we arrived, he went into the office, while I hurried to 
the corner, where I could watch the door of the private 
entrance Just as I reached the corner, I saw Kibbe step 
out and, without seeing me, hasten down the side street in 


68 


THE ROGUE ” OUT-WINDED . 


the opposite direction. I ran and called the detective, who 
rushed around the corner after him — my friend and I acting 
as Kibbe’s rear guard on the “ double quick,” he having about 
one square the start. It was a quiet part of the city, and as 
there were but few people in the streets, we had the fun all 
to ourselves. Fun! Well, some people might call it fun; 
but, although in those days I had good wind and speed, for a 
long time it was all I could do to hold my own with the 
quarry. The detective was a short, stumpy man, and as I 
passed him he was blowing like a porpoise. After a mile or 
so I caught up with “ The Rogue,” who had given out, ex¬ 
hausted. I said to him : 

“ Kibbe, you served me a dirty trick after my bringing 
you the five hundred dollars for the Baltimore job, when you 
know I could have kept it all! You had better settle at once, 
before the officer comes up, or it will be worse for you!” 

“ George,” he replied, in the most cringing, cowardly 
manner, “I have only six hundred dollars by me. I will 
give you that amount, if you will let me go, and settle the 
balance to-morrow.” 

“I don’t believe you,” I replied. “ You have the money; 
it is in the breast-pocket of your vest. Don’t I know some¬ 
thing of your ways and your rascality ? ” 

But he insisted that he had but the sum named. My 
friend and the detective now came up. I told the detective 
that the man owed me a large sum, and that he was trying 
to put me off with six hundred dollars, which I would not 
accept. At this time I was an “ innocent ” regarding the 
ways of so-called detectives. While we were walking to 
headquarters, Kibbe was in great consternation. On our 
arrival there I still refused to settle with him for the six 
hundred dollars, and he at last offered to go with me to a 
friend of his and borrow the balance. In the meantime the 
detective had a consultation with the chief-of-police, in his 
private office. They then came into the room where we were, 
and when I explained what Kibbe had offered to do, the chief 


A “LEATHERY” EJECTMENT. 


69 


said: “ We want our commission, and the best way is to let 
the officer go with him, while you wait here.” I at once 
acceded to the arrangement. Kibbe and the detective left, 
and in half an hour the latter came back alone and went 
direct into the chief’s office. In a few minutes they came out, 
and I asked, “ Where is Kibbe ? ” The chief answered: “ He 
has gone where he likes, and you had better do the same at 
once, or we will show you what it is to get us to arrest a man 
without a warrant. Come, clear out — quick! ” I arose and 
started to leave, he following me, and as I reached the door, 
literally kicked me out. Such an indignity had never been 
put upon me before — or behind. Considering the circum¬ 
stances, I saw that this was another occasion where discretion 
was the better part of valor, and therefore my friend and I 
quietly walked away. I was beginning to reap some of the 
harvest which surely ripens for all who enter into the con¬ 
scienceless strife for gold, more gold. 

We read traditions in the storied page 
Which give us glimpses of a better age — 

That fabled time when, in the days of old, 

’T is said men had no raging thirst for gold; 

But, when all ancient history we read, 

We find them tainted by the same fierce greed 
That now-a days sends thousands, in despair, 

To prison cells, and all the tortures there. 

Because, in their engrossing strife for wealth, 

They lost life’s truest aims and moral health. 

Alas! ’t is fearful madness, madness wild — 

In strife for gold to be misled, defiled. 

My friend and I immediately began anew our search for 
“ The Rogue,” resolved that when once more in our power, we 
would employ no detective. We visited the store of Henry 
Harvey Short & Co., and interviewed the young man, whom 
we discovered was the owner of the triple name. I at once re¬ 
vealed the story of my acquaintance with Kibbe and its sequel. 
I informed the youth that he was^being used for a tool, as 
I had been, and that I had no doubt it was “ The Rogue’s ” 
intention to gather up all the proceeds of the swindle, and 


70 


IN CANADA. 


leave him in the lurch. It was not long before I won his con¬ 
fidence completely, and he told me his story in substance as 
follows: 

“ My father carries on the painting business in the city of 
Brooklyn, and is now a man of spine property. He gave me 
a good education and on leaving school got me a place as 
assistant bookkeeper in New York. I got on very well for 
three or four years, until I fell in with a set of fast young 
fellows, stayed out late nights, visited the theaters, billiard- 
rooms, and other places less respectable. To cut the story 
short, my employers became tired of my lax way of doing 
work, and after repeated warnings, discharged me. I had 
been living at home some months when I met Kibbe at a bil¬ 
liard-room, and he told me if I would come out here with 
him, I should make a good many thousand dollars, without 
risk, in a few weeks.” 

The young man having informed me that “ The Rogue ” 
had written him a note asking him to cross the Niagara river 
at Black Rock into Canada, and meet him there, I persuaded 
Mr. Henry Harvey Short to write an answer, stating that he 
would meet him across the river next day. An hour before 
the time appointed, my friend, H. H. S., and myself took the 
street-cars to Black Rock, crossing the river on a ferry-boat. 
While on board the boat my friend and I kept in the cabin, 
our companion remaining outside on the bow. As soon as 
the boat touched the Canada shore, Kibbe came out of a house 
near the landing to meet his partner, who said to him as my 
friend and I approached, “ Mr. Bidwell and a friend have 
come over with me, for I thought it best that you should see 
them and settle.” 

Kibbe looked scared and disconcerted, but stood his ground. 

I asked him “ How did you arrange matters with the 
detective ? ” 

“ You refused the six hundred dollars,” replied Kibbe, 
“ but as soon as we were outside the door, the officer said it 
was enough for him, and if I would give him the money, he 


A SETTLEMENT. 


71 


and the chief would kick you out of the office. I thought,” 
he added with a grin, “ it was a fair offer, the closing part of 
it in particular, so I handed it over and came here to keep out 
of your way.” 

“ Well, you have thrown away six hundred dollars for the 
luxury of having the chief kick me out of his office. Now, 
Mr'. Kibbe, if you don’t settle at once I shall return the chief’s 
compliment with interest.” I knew where he carried his 
money, and he convinced me that he had but a little over two 
thousand five hundred dollars on his person. He then said: 
“ I will give you two thousand four hundred dollars cash, and 
turn over bills of lading for goods now at the depot and 
wharves to the amount of eight thousand dollars, consisting of 
flour, beef, pork, lard, oil, butter, etc.” 

To this arrangement I agreed, and we all returned to Buf¬ 
falo. After arriving in that city we concluded the business, 
and the same evening “ The Rogue” and his partner took the 
train for New York. The next morning I got an inspector to 
brand the flour, and took his certificate of inspection, together 
with samples, to a commission merchant. He took the samples 
“ on change,” and returned in a few moments, having sold the 
entire lot, and upon being handed the inspector’s certificate, 
he gave me a check for the whole amount, less his commis¬ 
sion. I got the check cashed at five minutes to three. I 
state the time merely to show that, had I been five minutes 
later, and obliged to stay over till next day, it is more than 
likely I should have had some of the parties who shipped the 
goods on my hands. Such an occurrence might have cost me 
all the money in my possession. 

I close this chapter with a newspaper article, detailing 
a somewhat remarkable series of small, swindling operations. 

[From The New York Tribune, 1867.] 

FALSE PRETENCE EXTRAORDINARY — ARREST OF 
TWO SKILLFUL OPERATORS. 

Last night Detective Officer Richard Field apprehended George 
Playep and John Howard, and took them to the Leonard Street 


72 MESSES. “HAYES AND HOWARD” 

police station, where they were detained by Capt. Petty. The 
operations of these prisoners are the most remarkable that have come 
to the knowledge of the police for many a day. About two years 
ago they opened an office on the northwest corner of Broad and 
South Streets, the business being transacted under the name of H. 
K. Clinton. Clinton (alias Hayes) purchased $150 worth of carpet¬ 
ing of Messrs. Humpfell & Hamlin, of Broadway, and of Messrs. 
Allen and Brothers, of No. 88 Leonard Street, $260 worth of silk 
cloaks, and these were delivered, with bill, at Clinton’s office. Of 
course Clinton was not in at the time of the delivery, but would 
return soon, and of course Howard received the goods, and the 
messengers who had delivered the goods were requested to call 
within an hour. When they did call they found an empty room, 
the goods having been removed and the firm having taken French 
leave. The couple next opened shop at No. 62 Broadway, and 
transacted business under the name of W. A. Stewart. While 
here Hayes (now Stewart) bought $600 worth of furs of Mr. M. M. 
Backus, of No. 532 Broadway, and gave him a worthless check 
therefor; bought $500 worth of cloths of Messrs. Abernethy & Co., 
of No. 23 Warren street, and gave that firm a worthless check; 
purchased wagons valued at $585 of Messrs. Brewster & Baldwin, 
of Broadway and Tenth Street, and defrauded them, and many other 
tradesmen whose names have not been made known. The busi¬ 
ness was next resumed at No. 81 Beaver Street, and there the chief 
was known as Wallace. They here defrauded Mr. John J. Smith, 
of No. 183 Broadway, having bought of him $1,857 worth of umbrel¬ 
las, and of Messrs. J. F. Smith & Co., of Broadway and Catharine 
Lane, they got $345 worth of coach harness. Next they opened 
an office at No. 15 William Street, and Hayes became R. M. Kings- 
land, and as such victimized Mr. John B. Dunham of No. Ill 
East Thirteenth Street, to the tune of $1,200 for pianos, and 
Messrs. Betts & Nichols of No. 349 Broadway, to the amount of 
$275 for harness. Moving again, they adopted a new name, and 
opened an office at No. 61 Broadway, as W. S. Hyatt & Co. Here 
they defrauded many merchants, among them Messrs. Lacy & 
Maker, of No. 27 Chambers Street, $124; Mr. M. A. Coburn, of 
No. 152 Fourth Avenue, $175, and Messrs. R. W. Tinson & Co., of 
No. 50 Broadway, $123 

The next exploit of Hayes and Howard was at No. 106 South 



V 












































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































TEE “SAME OLD COON.' 


78 


Street, where Hayes became W. A. Stewart. While here, Hayes 
bought $500 worth of harness of Messrs. Townshend, Baker & Co., 
of No. 46 Lispenard Street, and gave the firm a worthless check, 
ordering the purchase packed and directed to a firm in Texas, and 
delivered at No. 106 South Street. But unluckily for Hayes and 
Howard, Mr. Baker followed his harness, and finding everything 
wrong at No. 106 South Street, sent his check to bank to ascertain 
whether Hayes’s check was good. On the clerk’s return, the check 
having proved worthless, Mr. Baker seized his goods, and the rogues 
fled. The firm’s business was next under the name of William H. 
Martin, and their office at No. 6 South Street. While here, Hayes 
bought $500 worth of flour of the Messrs. Hickman, of the New 
York Flour Mills, and the flour was delivered to his partner, as 
usual. But the game was blocked there, and Hayes, and Howard, 
his partner, were arrested. The entire firm was indicted by the 
grand jury, and six months ago a bench-warrant for their appre¬ 
hension was intrusted to Officer Field; but Hayes and Howard kept 
out of sight until last night. 

When captured in Bleecker Street, near Wooster, Hayes offered 
resistance, but the exhibition of a pistol quieted him, and changed 
his tack to a tender of his watch and $500 for his release, but 
Officer Field chose to deliver him to Capt. Petty. 

Howard went quietly to the police station, and sullenly to a cell. 
He was once a clerk for a Boston dry goods firm. Hayes has been 
in the false pretense business in other cities, and in this city he has 
disposed of large quantities of spurious bank notes. It is believed 
that this precious couple have defrauded more than one hundred 
of our tradesmen, always, either by worthless checks, or by having 
goods delivered at their office, wherever it happened to be, and 
removing them therefrom as above described. They are young 
men of about thirty-two years of age, of exquisitely genteel address, 
and have been boarders at our fashionable hotels. Capt. Petty will 
detain the prisoners in the Leonard Street police station for identi¬ 
fication by tradesmen whom they have victimized. 

It is almost unnecessary to explain that Clinton, alias 
Hayes, alias Stewart, was none other than the Frank Kibbe of 
my previous acquaintance. 


Chapter VII. 


PARTNER-SWINDLING — “DOCTOR” SAMUEL BOLIVAR— HOW HE “RAISED THE 
WIND” — UP A TREE — THE WAY HE ROPED IN GREENHORNS — THE BOGUS 
REFERENCE “DEAD BEAT”—JONES’S GRAND PIANO—THE EMPTY BOX — THE 
ELM CITY ENTERPRISE COMES TO AN UNTIMELY END—MUSICAL “NOTES” — 
DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND—BEATEN BY AN EX-ASSOCIATE, WHO DISAPPEARS 
INTO OBSCURITY. 


HE occurrences related in the previous chapter caused 



JL considerable reflection, and after my return to New York 
I looked about for openings into an honest business. 

I saw an advertisement for a “ partner wanted, with five 
thousand dollars in cash.” I called at the place designated, 
and found a man seated in an arm-chair. He had a long, 
heavy, brown beard, curving eyebrows, squinting bluish eyes, 
rather coarse features, but on the whole not an unpleasing 
countenance. He was below the medium height, and thick¬ 
set. I afterwards found him rather gentlemanly in his address 
when doing business, and able to tell a good story on all 
occasions. 

This man was Doctor Samuel Bolivar, as he styled himself. 
He was very free in speaking to me of his antecedents after 
we became acquainted, and I learned that he and his wife 
boarded up town with a sister. Her house was filled with 
young medical students. Bolivar had chummed in with them, 
attended some of the lectures, and on. several occasions had 
been admitted to the wonders and horrors of the dissecting- 
room. On account of an after episode in the “ Doctor’s ” life, 
it may be well for the reader to bear in mind just how he 
obtained the handle to his name. He was the illegitimate son 
of a Massachusetts man, and had been left to get through the 


( 74 ) 



JACK OF ALL TRADES. 


75 


world in his own way ; and the result was that at thirty, when 
I met him, he possessed an amount of self-esteem, assurance, 
and impudence, that quite astounded me. He had been every¬ 
thing, and nothing very long. As a lad, he was a farmer’s 
boy, match-peddler, newsboy, and bootblack. A little later 
he became a canal driver, then attempted to become a circus 
tumbler ; and when that aspiration was squelched by an invol¬ 
untary double somersault, which landed him on his head and 
left a twist in his neck, he turned printer’s devil. While per¬ 
forming the duties of this black art, he took to study, and 
picked up considerable knowledge of the art entitled “ How to 
get into business on a small capital.” After various experi¬ 
ences and adventures in his native New England, at the age 
of twenty he landed in New York, where he believed the goal 
of his ambition was in plain view. The “ Doctor ” had many 
excellent qualities, was a tender, considerate husband and 
father, amiable, generous, and faithful to his friends, but he 
was blind to the moral obliquity involved in easing strangers 
of their surplus money by sharp practice. I say strangers, 
for swindlers of his class are usually as scrupulous in their 
dealings with each other, or rather when they unite together 
to “ beat ” outsiders, as any class of business men. But gen¬ 
erally speaking there is not much of the “ honor among 
thieves ” left of which we used to read in novels. 

' Bolivar informed me that he knew of a flourishing business 
to be sold, and having but five thousand dollars, which was 
not sufficient capital to make the purchase, he wished to find 
a good man to join him as partner. I told him that if the 
affair would bear investigation, I was ready to invest the nec¬ 
essary amount. 

The fact that a man was willing to put in capital himself, 
naturally gave me a good impression, both of the man and 
the proposed business. He then accompanied me to a large 
retail grocery and provision store, and introduced me to the 
surviving partner. He appeared to be about sixty years of 
age, worn and sickly. On an examination of his books, I found 


76 


A BEAR STORY. 


that the business was really in a flourishing condition. He 
stated that since his partner’s death, he had concluded 
to retire from business altogether. The price of his lease, 
fixtures, two horses and wagons, and the stock necessary to 
keep the business going, would be about ten or twelve thou¬ 
sand dollars. He had made an offer to Bolivar, which would 
give him a good business at a bargain. 

So far, all seemed as satisfactory as possible; Bolivar 
gave me referenc es, who spoke well of him, but knew nothing 
as to his means. As a precaution, I sent a friend to the place, 
who, accosting the proprietor, told him he was looking around 
to find a good business for sale, and thought he might perhaps 
know of one. He was informed that the place he was in was 
for sale, he himself intending to retire from business. After 
considerable conversation, my friend asked the price of the 
place. The proprietor offered the place to him as it was, for 
five thousand dollars. When my friend reported, I saw there 
must be a take in ” somewhere. 

I called on Bolivar and said to him: “ Come, Doctor, let me 
into your little secret, I am myself involved in speculations. 
I fancy we are both engaged in extracting an elixir from the 
‘ root of all evil ’ by similar processes.” 

After some farther parley, I told him of my friend’s call 
at the provision store. He was at first nonplussed, but soon 
began to laugh, and said : 

“ This reminds me of a little story. Many years ago, a 
friend of mine went out to the Rockies to make his fortune 
by the discovery of a gold-mine. The first thing he discov¬ 
ered, after he arrived, was that his pork and flour were all 
consumed. He had succeeded so well in isolating himself, 
that, with the exception of his two pack-horses, there was not 
a civilized living creature within a circuit of one hundred 
miles. Taking his rifle, he started out to kill anything edi¬ 
ble, from a rattlesnake to a buffalo, and before going far he 
caught a glimpse of some animal, and fired. He said to him¬ 
self as he went through the underbrush in pursuit: ‘ That is 


PARTNER HUMBUGGERY. 


77 


a bear, and if I can make him take to a tree he cannot escape ; 
once treed, he is my meat, and I’m sure of my dinner.’ Sud¬ 
denly he came to the edge of a small prairie and saw the bear 
crossing the open space. He did not know it was a grizzly, 
and taking good aim fired again. The grizzly turned, reared 
himself on his hind paws, and as soon as he saw his assail¬ 
ant, dropped down on all fours and 4 went for him.’ My friend 
took in the situation, and throwing away his gun ran straight 
towards a tree, which he reached just in time ; and thus, 
instead of having treed the bear, he was himself treed. Well, 
neighbor, I guess instead of treeing you as I expected, you 
have got me up a tree.” 

44 Doctor, tell me how you manage to make any money out 
of this partner business,” I said to him a few days later. 

44 There are several ways of operating by which I rope in 
greenhorns,” he replied ; 44 the one I was trying on you is the 
best. I find a really paying business which the owner is anx¬ 
ious to sell for cash. I then ascertain the very lowest figures 
for which he would sell it. Then, I say: 4 Now, Mr. Blank, I 
can get you a cash customer on one condition. You say that 
your place is worth seven thousand dollars, but that you will 
take five thousand dollars in cash. At your highest estimate 
you are not charging much for your good will, and you ought 
to know that the good will of an established trade is worth 
more than the fixtures, lease, and stock in trade. Yours is 
worth three thousand dollars. That would bring the value of 
your place up to ten thousand dollars. Now, sir, you set 
your price at that figure; I will get a man to go in partner¬ 
ship, who will pay his half, and I will give you a check for 
my half—five thousand dollars — which after its delivery you 
are to hand back to me in private.’ ” 

44 So far, very well, but in case your profit is tied up in 
the business, and you are bound to devote your time to it, 
what about that ? ” I asked. 

44 In the course of a month,” he replied, 44 1 manage to 
make my partner dissatisfied with me; then I get him to 


THE NEW HAVEN STORE. 


78 

make me an offer of how much he will give or take. What¬ 
ever it is, I accept, get all the money I can down, and make 
an agreement secured by a mortgage on the place for the 
balance, in small payments. The result is that I get my pay 
or the place comes into my hands, in which case I have no 
trouble to get the money out of it.” 

In return for “Doctor” Samuel Bolivar’s confidence, I re¬ 
lated to him the little plans and devices for getting other 
people’s money, into which Kibbe had initiated me. He 
thought each one of them a splendid way to make a fortune, 
and quite superior to his partnership operations. As a con¬ 
sequence he wished me to go into business with him, right 
away. 

It -will be perceived that from the moment I gave way to 
the seduction of Kibbe’s offer of letting me make $500 
so easily and safely at Baltimore, I became an apt pupil, 
thinking to let myself into such a way of obtaining money 
only so far as to get enough to enable me to establish a legit¬ 
imate business. Certainly I believed that one or two months 
would do it. 

Not long after our first meeting I directed Bolivar to hire 
an office, or suite of offices, on the ground floor at the corner 
of Beaver and Broad Streets. These were tastily fitted up 
and a large sign placed over each front. After this, I took 
another man with me to New Haven, Conn. Before leaving 
New York I had purchased an old sign (I have forgotten 
the name of the firm on it—call it Smith, Brown & Co.), 
and shipped it to New Haven. On our arrival there, we 
rented a store and put up the old sign. 

Leaving my assistant at the New Haven store, I returned 
to New York and found everything ready to begin opera¬ 
tions. I took the fourth and last member of our party — call 
him Jones — and went around with him. When we came to 
a wholesale place, that I had selected as likely to fill our 
order, I sent him in and told him what to buy, and to what 
amount. I remained near by while he made the purchase in 


JONES SELECTS A GRAND. 


79 


the name of the New Haven firm, of which he claimed to be the 
head. After the purchase was completed, on the usual terms, 

he gave as reference Messrs. L- & Co., our bogus New 

York firm. If any one called on L-& Co., to inquire as to 

the responsibility of the New Haven firm, Bolivar would say, 
“ We should not hesitate to ship them goods to the amount of 
$5,000 to $10,000, and all their dealings with us have been 
satisfactory.” This was sufficient to cause the shipment of 
the first order. There is a saying common among mer¬ 
chants, or was twenty years ago : 44 A buyer who is 4 crooked ’ 
always pays his first bill in order to get a bigger shipment 
afterwards.” I found the most successful plan of merchan¬ 
dise swindling was to make but a single purchase, and then 
to convert the goods into cash at once, or reship them to a 
place where they could be easily and safely disposed of. The 
police are so well posted on this kind of swindle at the pres¬ 
ent day that such an operation would scarcely be attempted 
by the most foolhardy “ crook.” 

After going around with Jones as described, until he had 
purchased from ten to fifteen thousand dollars’ worth of goods, 
I concluded to stop at that. All the purchases had been of 
staple goods, such as butter, cheese, pork, hams, sugar, tea, 
coffee, etc. Now comes the funny part. Jones was some¬ 
thing of a musician, and wanted to buy a piano to send home 
to his sister at the old homestead. I said to him: 44 These 
piano dealers are being so constantly imposed upon by sharp¬ 
ers that they have their eyes opened very wide. You can 
much easier procure articles which command ready money, 
and pay cash for your piano.” But Jones wanted a piano at 
the cost of freight only; besides he did not like the idea of 
paying for what he believed he could get for nothing. 

He went to the warehouse of the New York Piano Com¬ 
pany and selected one of their grands, price $1,000, for which 

he tendered a draft at six months on L- & Co., the New 

York bogus reference firm. This draft was taken by the 
treasurer of the Piano Company to L- & Co., who 






80 


Y 0THING FOR NOTHING. 


promptly accepted it. As most of the goods were ordered to 
be shipped by the New Haven boat, which left Peck Slip at 
11 p. m., Jones and I went there and saw the piano and a 
large quantity of goods delivered on board. Jones had no 
eyes for anything but the big box containing “ my grand 
piano.” 

But my dear fellow, said I, “ it is not yet in the old home¬ 
stead, and the music to be drawn from it may yet enliven 
some other ears than those of the ‘ old folks at home/ ” 

“ But haven’t I given a draft at six months, and hasn’t it 
been accepted ? ” said he eagerly. 

There was no use trying to dampen his ardor; there was 
the box on which appeared his false name in big letters. We 
took the cars for New Haven, in order to be on hand when 
the boat arrived. The next morning we were up bright and 
early and went to the store. A few minutes after our arrival, 
in came two men, whom I felt sure were detectives. They 
asked some questions about the business, to which I carelessly 
replied to the effect that we were just about opening. I paid 
no further attention to them, and they soon left. We then 
went to the post-office and found letters containing invoices 
for most of the goods purchased the day before, also one from 
the managers of the New York Piano Company, as follows: 

Messrs. Smith, Brown & Co., New Haven, Conn. 

Gentlemen: —A man purporting to be Mr. Smith of your firm 
called on us to-day and stated that he was just furnishing his pri¬ 
vate residence in New Haven, and purchased from us one of our 

best grand pianos, giving a draft at six months on L-& Co., of 

this city. After calling on L- & Co., and getting the draft 

accepted we made some further inquires which convinced us that 
the location of your Mr. Smith’s private residence must be, not 
in New Haven — but in Wethersfield. [Note — the State’s prison 
is located there.] A friend in New Haven, to whom we sent a dis¬ 
patch, replies: “No such men, firm, nor private residence in New 
Haven.” Concluding that you are trying to “come it” on us, we 
beg to call your attention to the piano-case, which, on opening you 
will find to contain the exact equivalent to your draft accepted by 




PRISONERS WAITING TRIAL, AT NEWGATE, RECEIVING VISITORS. 









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































JONES INCONSOLABLE. 


81 


L- & Co., viz. : $0,000. This draft we herewith enclose, so 

that if you are dissatisfied with our valuation of the document, you 
can reship us the piano-case, thus making matters square between 
us — saving the trouble, and say $4.00 freight and cartage for the 
empty case. Of course we feel satisfied as it is, but will feel more 
so, if you choose to send us the four dollars and the case. 

From the events which followed, I have no doubt but that 
the manager of the New York Piano Company had communi¬ 
cated with the New Haven chief-of-police. After leaving the 
post-office I sent a man to the wharf, and while he was gone, 
we found that the two detectives were following us about. 
After the man returned, he said: “ I saw the piano and a lot 
of goods on the wharf, and as soon as I spoke to the freight 
clerk a man came up and asked if those were my goods. I 
said they belonged to the firm in whose employ I was. I then 
asked the clerk for the freight bills, which he gave me, saying 
the piano-case was empty.” 

After taking the whole matter into consideration, I con¬ 
cluded to abandon the enterprise, for I saw that while there 
would be no trouble about getting the goods into the store, 
the moment I attempted to dispose of them the detectives 
would ascertain the places where they went. In case I 
reshipped the goods, the detectives would learn the addresses 
of the consignees, and notify by telegraph the New York 
creditors, who would arrange to have the goods attached on 
arrival at their destination. We waited until evening, and 
then took the train to New York. The next day I purchased 

several bills of goods in the name of L- & Co., which were 

delivered in the way before described, then closed up the. New 
York office, removing everything but the sign, and came out 
of the attempted big swindle with the product of a small one 
— just enough to cqver expenses. 

Arrived in New York, Jones was inconsolable at the loss 
of his piano—“ My grand piano.” “The scoundrel!” he 
exclaimed — “ after I had paid him for it with an accepted 
draft — to play me such a trick ! Why, I have been dreaming 
6 



REPLY TO THE MANAGER. 


82 

nothing but new music ever since I set eyes on it; my head 
was an entire Italian opera company and the Vienna Opera 
House Orchestra combined! Talk about Orpheus and Eury- 
dice! the Furies resisting Orpheus’s entrance into Hades! 
Bah! When I waked up this morning, I had my head full of 
something that would have cast all that into the shade, and 
could have played it all on my grand piano! And only an 
empty case! It is enough to make a fellow tear his hair all 
out! ” 

I could only laugh and roar at his rhapsodies and lamenta¬ 
tions. At last I got breath to say: “ Oh, Jones, my boy, do 
stop, or you will be guilty of homicide! Don’t you see that 
it is only a case of diamond cut diamond ? They have been 
too sharp for us; that’s all.” 

After my friend Jones had recovered from the first effects 
of his disappointment, I sat down and wrote a letter substan¬ 
tially as follows: 

Manager New York Piano Company: 

Dear Sir, — I take the utmost pleasure in handing you the 
enclosed four dollars, which you say will make you “feel more so,” 
i. e., quite satisfied regarding your transaction with the late firm of 
Smith, Brown & Co. of New Haven, Conn. 

As I wish to keep the document you enclosed, I adopt your 
suggestion as to the piano-case, and have sent an order to the wharf 
agent in New Haven to reship it to your address. As to my friend 
Mr. Smith, alias Jones, alias Brown, alias anything, you are not so 
far out of the way about the location of his private residence — that 
is to say, you are only a few months behind, as he left Wethersfield 
less than a year ago. There is some excuse to be made for his 
error regarding “ the fine New Haven residence ” in which he was 
about to place the grand piano. It is this: He has an extremely 
strong imagination, and no sooner had he run his fingers over the 
keys of your fine instrument than he saw it all — the fine residence, 
elegant furniture, pictures by the old masters, and everything heart 
could wish, except a grand piano. Now, sir, let me congratulate 
you on the good taste and artistic appreciation of the state of affairs 
which led you to send him an imaginary grand piano. He does not 


FROTHINGHAM’S FRAUD. 


83 


just yet appreciate the action in its true light, but I have no doubt 
he will do co as he recovers from the paroxysm brought on by his 
disappointment. I am, sir, your disappointed 

Customer. 

Four or five hundred dollars’ worth of goods had been 
shipped by rail, and were lying at the freight station in New 
Haven. I thought that the detectives were so deeply engaged 
watching the goods at the steamboat wharf that those at the 
railway station would remain unnoticed. Therefore I went 
to one F who had been a salesman in the grocery 

house with me — a man with no particular conscience as to 
how he made money, so long as he kept out of the clutches 
of law—and told him about the goods, offering him one-half 
the proceeds of their sale if he would take an order, run up 
to New Haven, and reship them to New York. He accepted 
my offer, went to New Haven the next morning, returning 
the same afternoon, and coming to meet me at the Inter¬ 
national Hotel, Park Row, said: 

“ Well, you have got me into a pretty scrape ! As soon as 
I presented the order signed Smith, Brown & Co., I was 
arrested, and had to let them know who I was. Then I could 
not get off without paying the detective fifty dollars, and as I 
had but twenty, I had to get him to come to New York with 
me. He is waiting over at the Astor House for me to return 
and pay him the thirty dollars.” 

Without thinking, I gave him the sum demanded, and he 
departed; but after considering the matter, I concluded that 
his entire story was false, and that he had really obtained 
the goods, taking that method to throw off suspicion of his 
transaction. 

Some time after, I was in Albany, and calling on a liquor- 
dealer who I knew was a friend of F I said: 

“ Mr. F-wished me to call and get a sample of the whisky 

he sent you the other day to sell for him.” The dealer said, 
“All right,” took me up stairs, and showed me all the casks 
of liquor and oil for which I had given Frothingham an order. 



84 


A PENNY-DIP GOES OUT. 


This man was at the time connected with a wholesale grocery 
house in New York. 

Since my return from England I have visited the quarter 
in New York where, as previously related, I had been engaged 
in the grocery trade. Nearly all the old firms had disap¬ 
peared, but after looking about I discovered two old grocery 
men, from whom, among other things, I ascertained that 
FrothinghanTs conscienceless sharpness had never carried 
him higher than the position of a salesman, and that for a 
few years past he has disappeared into such complete obscurity 
that my informant did not know what had become of him. 
















Chapter VIII. 


IN THE TOBACCO BUSINESS AT WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA —ELDRIDGE AND THE 
CUMBERLAND SWINDLE — ELDRIDGE’S ARREST — POST AND TELEGRAPH OFFICES 
“ WORKED ” —A “ HEADER ” OUT OF A CAR WINDOW, AND ESCAPE IN IRONS—AN 
ANGEL IN THE WILDERNESS —A “RISE ” TAKEN OUT OF PENDER— ELDRIDGE 
RE-ARRESTED AND LODGED IN WHEELING JAIL. 



OME months after the occurrences last recorded, I left the 


fO home where I was living happily with wife and child, 
having arranged with “ Doctor ” Samuel Bolivar to go West in 
search of a good place to open a swindling commercial house. 

Right here let me explain that during all this time, I 
deceived and studiously kept my wife in ignorance of the true 
nature of my business. 

Young man! if you are in possession, as I was, of Heav¬ 
en’s choicest blessing, a good wife, reveal all your troubles to 
her, and make her your confidant in business affairs. 

Bolivar and I were unsuccessful until we reached Wheel¬ 
ing, W. Ya.; there we found a wholesale tobacco business, 
which had been conducted by Mr. Ott, who had reduced his 
stock, and was about to close up that he might give his entire 
attention to the hardware establishment which came into his 
hands by the death of his father. The “ Doctor ” and I pur¬ 
chased the stock and goods on thirty days’ time without being- 
asked for any references, intending of course, to obtain all the 
goods we could within the month and then to leave. We 
ordered a considerable quantity of tobacco from the manu¬ 
facturers of whom Mr. Ott had purchased ; this was promptly 
shipped, and it would have been well with us had we adhered 
to our original purpose of running the place but for a month, 
or less. We sent out a young man, who had been in Mr. 


( 85 ), 



86 


THE FATAL TEA-CHEST. 


Ott’s employ, to travel for orders among the old customers 
of the house. Our firm was S. S. Bovar & Co., I was known 
by the name of Cole, and Bovar was the French form of the 
name of my partner. 

Before the end of the month we found we were engaged in 
a really good and profitable trade, and began to regret that 
we had not gone into it under our right names. Had we done 
so, we might have taken advantage of the opportunity to settle 
down into permanent business, which through all had been my 
ultimate aim. We gave up our original plan and deter¬ 
mined to keep on for a time, hoping to find a solution to the 
difficulty. At the expiration of the month we paid Mr. Ott 
in full as agreed. 

Shortly after this a man, represented by his business card 
to be “ J. M. Eldridge, dealer in Choice Groceries, Teas, etc., 
Cumberland, Md.,” went to Baltimore and purchased goods at 
several wholesale houses. 

The orders were promptly shipped, and in three or four 
days he had received nearly $4,000 worth of teas, sugar, etc. 
He sold the sugar in Cumberland, but not finding a ready sale 
for the tea, he reshipped it to Wheeling, to which place he 
then came. Offering it at a low price I purchased it for S. S. 
Bovar & Co., taking an invoice which he receipted. We 
shipped it by steamer to Bishop & Co., wholesale grocers, 
Cincinnati, with whom we had an account, to be sold and 
credited to us. One fatal chest, however, was retained in our 
store. Eldridge also sold us a lot of tobacco, which we added 
to our stock. 

It appears that he had not paid for these goods, and after 
waiting a little time for the expected remittances, the Balti¬ 
more firms became suspicious that all was not right, and sent 
an agent to Cumberland. This agent had not much difficulty 
in ascertaining that something was really wrong, but could 
find nothing of Eldridge or the goods shipped to him. At last 
he discovered that a lot of teas, corresponding in number of 
chests to those .sold by his firm to Eldridge, had been reshipped 


A CRIME FOR A CRIME. 


87 


to Wheeling. He at once came on to that city, and being a 
shrewd, sharp individual, soon traced them to our store. Then 
he made inquiries regarding the house of S. S. Bovar & Co., 
and could only learn that the members of the firm appeared to 
he good men, and paid their bills. Supposing the teas to be still 
in our store, procuring a writ of replevin and a search-warrant, 
he came with a constable and obtained the single chest of tea 
so thoughtlessly retained. This encouraged the constable, 
Pender, to undertake a little in the detective line. He ar¬ 
ranged with the Wheeling postmaster to deliver to him all 
our letters, which he opened by steaming, and after reading 
returned them to the postmaster, who then put them in our 
box. As these bore no evidence of irregular treatment we did 
not suppose they had been tampered with. The postmaster 
committed a felony against the United States postal laws — a 
State’s prison offense — in order to uncover what was at that 
time (1864) a simple misdemeanor, the penalty of which was 
confinement in the county jail. 

The constable Pender then went to the telegraph office and 
arranged with the superintendent for a copy of all dispatches 
addressed to S. S. Bovar & Co., or to Bovar or Cole. This 
was a mode of uncovering fraudulent operations at that time 
new to me, and against which I naturally took no precautions. 
In the ipeantime Eldridge had gone to some place in Ohio, 
but kept up a correspondence with me at Wheeling. Of course 
his letters addressed to me (Cole), care of S. S. Bovar & Co., 
fell into Pender’s hands, giving him the whereabouts of the 
writer. Pender at once went to the Governor of West Vir¬ 
ginia, who resided in Wheeling, at that time the capital of the 
State, procured a requisition on the Governor of Ohio, went on 
to Columbus, had his papers signed, and the proper warrant 
issued by the Governor. He then proceeded to the town 
where Eldridge was staying, caused his arrest, and after put¬ 
ting on hand-cuffs, took him on board the train bound for 
Wheeling. Eldridge was gentlemanly in his manners, of a 
generous and sociable disposition, one who made friends 


88 


LIBERTY OR DEATH. 


everywhere, especially since he had been able to procure plenty 
of other people’s money to spend. They were not long in the 
train before he had quite gained the confidence of Pender, but 
not sufficiently enough to induce him to remove the hand¬ 
cuffs. After passing the town of Belmont, Ohio, Pender went 
to the rear of the car for some purpose, Eldridge sprang to 
to his feet, raised the car window and threw himself out head¬ 
long. The train was running about twenty miles an hour, 
and Eldridge after rolling over two or three times regained 
his feet, and found that although he had received a good shak¬ 
ing up, no bones were broken. The reader may think that 
such a leap in handcuffs could not be taken without serious 
results, but in the course of my story I shall give the cases of 
two men, one of them handcuffed, who leaped from trains in 
England going at the rate of more than forty miles an hour. 
Both of these men I became subsequently acquainted with in 
Woking prison, and heard the remarkable story of their lives 
from their own lips. 

As soon as Eldridge shook himself together he started as 
fast as he could go across the country. Pender had taken 
the precaution to strip him of his money, watch, and other 
valuables, but he was happy to escape, handcuffed and money¬ 
less as he was. Every effort to free himself from the irons 
proved unavailing, and after walking through the woods all 
night long, he came to a clearing and in sight of a comfort¬ 
able log farm-house, about sunrise. He secreted himself in a 
clump of bushes at the edge of the clearing, and watched until 
the farmer came out with his axe and dinner-basket and 
went into the woods. In a short time Eldridge heard the 
steady strokes of an axe, apparently half a mile distant. He 
managed to tear off a portion of his shirt and wrap it around 
his hands, concealing the handcuffs, then went boldly toward 
the house and pleasantly accosted the woman who stood at 
the door surrounded by her children, as afterwards detailed 
by himself: 

“ Good morning, madam. You are no doubt surprised 
to see a stranger in such a condition as I am at present.” 


“SWEET CHARITY .” 89 

“ Poor man,” replied the woman, “ what is the matter ? 
Come in and rest yourself. Have you hurt your hand ? ” 

“ The fact is, my dear madam,” replied Eldridge, “ I am 
the victim of unfortunate circumstances. My father, at his 
death, left me a large amount of property.* Some of my 
envious relatives, by misrepresentation and the bribery of 
dishonest physicians, had me pronounced insane, and an 
order issued to place me in the County Insane Asylum. They 
were taking me there yesterday, handcuffed, but as I had 
rather die than go to such a place, I seized an opportunity to 
jump out of the car window, and have been in the woods all 
night. Just look at my hands ! ” 

The good woman had listened attentively to Eldridge’s 
piteous story, and when he held up his hands, all swollen 
and bleeding from the cruel irons, she was utterly horrified, 
and moved to that deep compassion which is so characteristic 
of her. sex the world over. She hastened to bring a hammer, 
a flatiron, and a file. With these she quickly removed the 
irons from his wrists, and then cooked for him a generous 
breakfast. During his stay, this angel of the wilderness 
mended his clothes neatly, put a silver dollar into his hand 
at parting, and he left this humble home in the woods in a 
comfortable condition. 

If this good woman be still living, she may have an oppor¬ 
tunity to read this record of her own sweet charity dispensed 
long years ago to a suffering man, whose sins she could know 
nothing of. 

He now for the first time since his escape knew exactly 
where he was, and was able in the course of the day to reach 
the town of Steubenville on the Ohio River, which is less than 
fifty miles from Wheeling. It was a great wonder to him 
how Pender had ascertained his whereabouts, never dreaming 
that the post and telegraph offices had been tampered with. 
Therefore he used part of the dollar given him by the woman 
to send a telegram to me at Wheeling, asking me to come to 
him with a supply of money. 


90 


RECAPTURED. 


In the meantime, after a useless hunt for his escaped 
prisoner, Pender returned to Wheeling very much crestfallen; 
and throughout the next day he was the subject of numerous 
“ hard rubs ” from some of his friends, whose remarks were 
very soon related to Eld ridge : “ Hello, Pender ! Have you 

lost your mule ? ” “ What’s the price of new handcuffs ? ” 

“ Thought you were too old a head to accept leg bail! ” etc., 
etc. Therefore it may be supposed he was overjoyed when a 
dispatch addressed to me was placed in his hands by the tele¬ 
graph operator. After Eldridge sent his dispatch he waited 
about for the arrival of the train which would have brought 
me to his rescue had I received it. Instead of myself, Pender 
took the train, and as it drew up to the platform he saw him 
looking for me. He left the train and walking up to him, 
unperceived, said: “ Well, Eldridge, how do you feel after 

the header ? I knew you had no money, and did not wish to 
leave you out in the cold such weather as this.” 

Eldridge turned, stupefied, and before he recovered his 
usual presence of mind the handcuffs were again upon him, 
and this time Pender succeeded in lodging him safely in the 
county jail at Wheeling, where we leave him for the present 
to reflect over the result of a first step into crime. 





Chapter IX. 


Mr ARREST IN EVANSVILLE — DELIVERED UPON A REQUISITION CHARGING ME WITH 
FELONY — TRIED FOR MISDEMEANOR AND GIVEN TWO YEARS IN THE COUNTY 
JAIL — UNEQUAL SENTENCES — A “MODEL” JAIL — ADAMS EXPRESS ROBBERS — 
SHELTON PLANS AN ESCAPE. 


HE firm of S. S. Bovar & Co. secured the services of a 



JL young man named Wesley, who could be trusted to act 
as porter. Of course he had nothing to do with the manage¬ 
ment, and was not let into the secrets of our business. Yet 
it will be seen that he suffered equally with Eldridge, Bovar, 
and myself. 

During all this time we remained quietly in Wheeling 
attending to the tobacco business. Because of my fictitious 
name, “ Cole,” I had kept aloof from almost everyone, and 
made no acquaintances among the merchants and business 
men, but Bovar had made a great many. When it became 
known that Eldridge was arrested, Bovar came to me in a 
panic. I told him that I did not think they would dare to 
molest us, and to guard against any possibility I decided to 
go away for a few days. I was greatly puzzled at the appar¬ 
ent ease with which Eldridge had been twice captured, hav¬ 
ing no suspicion even yet that the postal and telegraph 
service had been “ worked.” 

It did not require a great amount of penetration to see 
that matters were getting badly mixed, and I left for Evans¬ 
ville, Indiana, there to await events. Bovar was to write or 
telegraph me in case of necessity, and in the course of a day 
or two sent me a telegram, a copy of which was at once given 
to Pender, by which means he ascertained my whereabouts. 
He telegraphed to the authorities at Evansville, directing 


0 * 1 ) 



92 


ARRESTED IN “ IIOOSIERDOMS 


them to have me arrested (which was promptly done) and 
held to await a requisition on the charge of felony, a charge 
which, as will be shown, could not be sustained. 

The next day Pender arrived at Evansville with the requi¬ 
sition, took me in charge, and we at once started for Wheeling. 
His experience with Eldridge had made him cautious, and he 
kept me handcuffed during the entire journey. This was my 
first experience of such an indignity, and I felt the disgrace 
keenly. Arriving at Bellaire,the junction of the Baltimore & 
Ohio B. R. and the Wheeling branch, we found that we should 
be obliged to remain there over night. Pender secured lodg¬ 
ings, or rather a small bedroom, and after eating supper with 
shackled hands, I lay down on the bed, while he sat close by 
me to keep guard. Neither of us slept during the night, and 
throughout the tedious hours I watched incessantly for a 
chance to regain my liberty, and he, suspicious of my inten¬ 
tion, sat by my bedside all night long with a revolver in his 
hand. 

In the morning the rain was pouring down in torrents, 
but Pender would not wait for the train. He hired a couple 
of horses, which we mounted, and started for Wheeling, four or 
five miles distant, I being still handcuffed. After a time we 
came to a level section with thick woods bordering the high¬ 
way. I formed a plan to gradually fall behind, and then rush 
my horse to the fence, leap off, climb over, and take to the 
woods. When about one hundred feet to the rear — the rain 
coming down in “ buckets-full ” — I turned my horse’s head 
towards the fence, digging my heels into his sides, but could 
not make him go fast. As soon as Pender saw my move¬ 
ments, he whirled his horse around, and by the time I had 
covered half the distance to the fence, his horse had gained so 
much on the skeleton which carried me that he was close 
enough to open fire. Through fear of hitting the horse, I 
suppose, his shots were all too high. I at last reached the 
fence, but owing to my shackled, hands I could not leap from 
the horse’s back directly over, and dismounted to climb it. 


THE SCAPEGOATS OF SOCIETY. 


93 


By this time Pender had got close to me, and I was obliged to 
surrender or risk a bullet at a yard’s distance. Well, I sur¬ 
rendered ! During the rest of our journey, amid pouring rain, 
he kept me just in front of him, and in another hour I was 
lodged in the same den with Eldridge. 

This success emboldened the creditors of Eldridge to arrest 
Boyar and Wesley at the store, and to proceed against all four 
of us for a conspiracy to defraud. We were tried together, 
the jury brought in a verdict of guilty, and the judge sen¬ 
tenced us all, including the clerk Wesley, to two years’ con¬ 
finement in the county jail, the utmost limit permitted by the 
laws of the State of West Virginia for a misdemeanor. Had 
we not been strangers the result might have been different 
for all save Eldridge. At that time, in most of the States, the 
longest term of punishment that could be inflicted for a mis¬ 
demeanor was one year in the county jail. What is the 
moral difference between obtaining goods under false pretense, 
pocket picking, or any other kind of stealing ? There is but 
one — the petty thief or pickpocket often gets all the money 
that a poor man or woman has in the world. 

Up to the time of my escape, to be described later on, I 
passed eight months in this West Virginia county jail; and 
as it was a type of a state of things still existing in many 
parts of the Southern States, as I judge by what I have read 
in the papers since my return from England, I conclude to 
give some description of life in that “ reformatory institution.’* 

Alas! does the constitution of society require that those 
who never had a proper start in life — permitted to grow up 
ignorant, amid brutalizing surroundings — should suffer the 
severest penalties, and become the scapegoats of shrewd, 
avaricious men? I refer to all unfortunates, white or black, 
who are now passing wretched lives, the victims of Society’s 
neglect amidst what are denominated civilized Christian 
communities. 

This Wheeling jail was a two-story and basement struct¬ 
ure, solidly built of stone. The front was occupied by the 


94 


BAD COMPANY. 


jailor and his family. The rear building had a boiler for 
steam-heating purposes in the basement, the first floor being 
occupied by male, and the second by female, prisoners. Cor¬ 
ridors about twelve feet wide extended from a large, iron- 
barred window, which looked into a back-yard surrounded by 
a high wall, to the front part occupied by the family, from 
which it was separated by a grated or barred iron door, the 
entrance to each story being from the residence. The stone 
stairs, leading from the basement to the top floor, were over 
each other in the same part. There was a porch over the 
front entrance, which was reached by a flight of stone steps. 
The flue leading from the fire-place under the boiler in the 
basement ran up in the wall near the large window at the 
rear. On each side of the corridors was a row of cells about 
five feet by ten, which were closed by double doors, that 
inside the thickness of the wall being of iron bars, the outer 
one of solid plank. In the wall was a small window, near 
the ceiling, about six inches horizontal width by two feet in 
length, affording but dim light even in fair weather. Six- 
inch closet-pipes ran through the rear of the cells near the 
floor, the openings to which were closed with cast-iron covers 
weighing thirty or forty pounds. These in course of time 
had become loosened from the original fastenings — a fact 
which had a decisive bearing on my escape, as will be shown. 

West Virginia, in 1864, had no State prison, and in 
consequence all persons convicted of felony served out the 
terms of their sentences in the various county jails, asso¬ 
ciating indiscriminately with prisoners of every degree of 
guilt, from those awaiting trial or doing a month for drunk¬ 
enness, to others sentenced to a life imprisonment for murder. 
In the Wheeling county jail were three of the latter sort, and 
very good, quiet men they were. There were also three con¬ 
federates— Weston, a master builder, Charley Meredith, a 
Baltimore saloon-keeper and gambler, and Marks, a car¬ 
penter— who were doing respectively four, five, and seven 
years, for robbing the Adams Express Company’s office at 


ADAMS EXPRESS ROBBERY . 95 

Parkersburgh, W. Ya. As usual, the most guilty escaped 
with the lightest sentence. 

The master builder, Weston, was carrying on a large busi¬ 
ness in his line, but was dissatisfied with the rate at which 
his wealth was increasing. He had frequented Charley Mere¬ 
dith’s saloon, passing many evenings in playing billiards, 
poker, etc. It is probable that losses at gambling caused him 
to concoct the scheme which he did for refilling his purse. 
He went to Cincinnati, made up a package, purporting to 
contain $35,000, and addressed it to himself at Parkersburgh. 
This he sent by the Adams Express Company, taking therefor 
the usual receipt given by the agents for money packages. 
On the arrival of this bogus package at Parkersburgh, the 
agent put it in the safe over night, a fact which was known 
to Weston’s confederates, Charley Meredith and the carpenter 
Marks, who the same night entered the Express office, broke 
open the safe, and took away the $35,000 package. The next 
morning the agent was completely wild, and the whole town 
in excitement over the robbery. No clue could be found to 
the perpetrators, who remained quietly in town, engaged in 
their usual avocations. Weston came forward and demanded 
his package of $35,000, and although the company had no 
actual suspicion, before replacing the amount of the supposed 
robbery, they had Mr. Weston make affidavit as to all the 
circumstances relating to the money which had been sent to 
him. He, supposing the company would be satisfied with his 
declaration without investigating farther, made a statement 
which the company soon found to be false in some particu¬ 
lars. This aroused them to a more rigid investigation, which 
resulted in bringing the whole plot to light, and the trial and 
conviction of the confederates. 

The male ward of the jail was so crowded that each cell 
contained two to four men — if four, these had to pack in the 
bed, heads and feet; and the same was the case with the 
female ward up stairs, the cells being even more closely 
crowded. The place swarmed with Mark Twain’s “ chamois.” 


90 THE PIOUS SHELTON. 

These — not the chamois — were all let out into the corridors 
of their respective wards. 

During the greater part of the day, the place was a verita¬ 
ble pandemonium. Laughter, singing, gambling, varied with 
occasional fights, washing and drying of clothes, kept the 
place rather lively. By the sides of the steam-pipes which 
passed up through the stone floor of the cells, the women had 
dug out the cement to make a hole through into the cells 
below. By these they would sit, or lie on their faces, and 
exchange ideas, not of the most refined nature, with some of 
the male prisoners underneath. The cells were divided by 
partition walls of stone more than a foot in thickness, yet 
holes had been made through these, enabling prisoners to 
talk or pass small articles back and forth. 

Our advent among the prisoners was hailed with rejoic¬ 
ings, because they supposed we had some money — their own 
being exhausted. They were allowed to send the jailor’s 
children out to purchase tobacco, fruit, pies, cakes, etc., the 
jail food being composed principally of corn-bread and pota¬ 
toes. Especially delighted was Charley Meredith, who was 
good-natured, gentlemanly in his manners, full of jokes and 
fun, in fact an invaluable assistant in helping to pass away 
the monotonous hours in a jail — and to get away one’s sur¬ 
plus cash by gaming. I did not at first suspect gambling to 
be his special calling, nor had I ever practiced it; but he soon 
initiated me into the game of poker, and some of the hands 
vhich he dealt himself were to me truly wonderful. 

One Shelton, who was doing a term of fifteen years for 
horse-stealing, had become very — and I believe genuinely — 
religious. He was of small size, but like a bundle of steel 
wires — could twist and double himself into any shape, and 
was a complete acrobat. One day, three or four months after 
my arrival, he came to me and divulged a plan of escape, 
which I did not think was a feasible one. I said to him: 
“ But, Shelton, you are now a religious man; you must believe 
that you were sent here providentially, and how can you think 
of attempting to escape ? ” 


PLAN OF ESCAPE. 


97 


“ Oh, I have been a very bad man, and committed more 
than one murder; but God has brought me to see my evil 
ways, and has pardoned me, and with His help I am bound to 
lead a new life. I had a great power and capacity to work 
for the devil, and am going to use the same qualities the rest 
of my life in working against him. I believe God has put it 
into my heart to escape from this place, and I believe, also, 
that He will assist; therefore I have put my life at His dis¬ 
posal, and shall execute the plan with which He has inspired 
me, even if I go alone.” 

Finding I would have nothing to do with it, he let Eldridge, 
Green, and Morgan into his plan. Green was doing five years 
for larceny, and appeared very well educated. Morgan was 
a good specimen of the Southwestern rough, desperado, and 
horse-thief — ready for any daring enterprise, from sheep¬ 
stealing to murder, provided there was any money in it. He 
was now doing ten years for horse-stealing, and was fond of 
boasting about his wild and lawless adventures. His last 
exploit had nearly ended his career, for an irate party of farm¬ 
ers had captured him on a stolen horse, put a rope around his 
neck, thrown the end over a limb, and pulled him up; but he 
was cut down by the sheriff, who arrived just in the nick of 
time. These three prisoners agreed to join Shelton in his 
project, and a night was fixed upon to make the attempt. 

It was in the latter part of July, 1865; and as the weather 
was very warm, Mr. Jones, the jailor, an ignorant but kind 
and humane mail, directed that the outside, solid wooden 
doors to the cells, usually locked, should be left open at night, 
that the air might circulate through them. The inner door, 
before described, was fastened by a bolt and spring slide on 
the wall of the corridor, beyond the reach of the occupant of the 
cell. Shelton’s programme was to reach the slide and remove 
it, then get out of his cell, let the other men out of theirs into 
the corridor, and then dig a hole through the brick wall into 
the flue — all without being heard by the night watchman. 
How this was effected will be shown in the next chapter. 


7 


Chapter X. 


ELDRIDGE, SHELTON, GREEN, AND MORGAN BREAKOUT OF WHEELING JAIL — MORGAN 
SHOT DEAD — LEAP AND RUN FOR LIBERTY — WANDERINGS IN THE FOREST — 
“ BORROWING ” A HORSE-BLANKET— STARVATION AND A GOOSE-CHASE — A DIN¬ 
NER WON — ELDRIDGE LOSES HIS COMPANIONS IN CROSSING THE OHIO — A NAR¬ 
ROW ESCAPE — A FEARFUL RIDE — FREEDOM AT LAST AND A PILGRIMAGE — THE 
GOOD QUAKER LADY — ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK. 



BELIEVE Eldridge to be the only survivor of the daring 


escape, and the subsequent events were related by him to 
me some months later. 

Wesley and I were confined in the same cell, and on the 
night that Shelton and his party had agreed upon, we lay on 
the straw-bed listening attentively to catch every sound. 
About one o’clock a. m. Shelton began operations. By means 
of a tool which he had contrived, he reached through the 
bars of the inner iron door—the outer wooden one being 
open — and after some careful manipulations succeeded in 
withdrawing the slide and pushing out the bolt. After listen¬ 
ing a little, he cautiously opened the iron door of his cell, and 
then those of two other cells in which hrs associates were 
waiting and watching. All four now crept along the corridor 
in the dark to the flue previously described. 

With a jackknife blade fastened to a wooden handle, 
Shelton began to dig the mortar out from between the bricks. 
After an hour’s work, each moment expecting to be interrupted 
by the night watchman, he had made an opening into the flue. 
All then let themselves down, Shelton being in advance. 
When he had reached the fire-hole under the boiler in the 
basement, where there was more space, he waited for the 


( 98 ) 





MORGAN'S DEATH. 


99 


others. Some noise had been made in coming down the flue 
by the falling of a brick, which had been heard by the night 
watchman, whom they saw through the furnace door enter the 
basement with a lantern, armed with a horse-pistol and accom¬ 
panied by a dog. 

They wore but shoes, trousers, shirts, and caps, and the 
passage down the flue had torn their shirts nearly off, and 
begrimed them with soot. In appearance more like demons 
than human beings, they sprang out upon the watchman. 
The unexpected appearance of so frightful-looking a quar¬ 
tette, unnerved the watchman, and a few threats caused him 
to drop the pistol in terror. The dog seemed to take part in 
his master’s trepidation, and neither dog nor man offered any 
resistance to the flight of the fugitives. The noise aroused 
Jailer Jones, who was sleeping in a room, the door of which 
opened opposite to and about eight feet from the foot of the 
stairs which led to the second story. He sprang out of bed, 
seized a revolver, threw open the door, and stood awaiting 
events. In a moment the fugitives rushed up the basement 
stairs and around the corner to reach the stair-way which led 
to the second story. As soon as they came in view Jones 
began firing. Shelton led the way, passed within a few feet 
of the jailer, rushed up the stairs, unharmed by the bullet 
fired point-blank at him. Eldridge, who came next, had a 
like salute and the same lucky escape. 

Morgan then attempted to run the gauntlet, but as he 
made the first leap up the steps he fell backward on the floor, 
groaning and cursing horribly. Green, who was just behind 
him, without the slightest hesitation, leaped over Morgan’s 
body and flew up the steps with a bullet whizzing past his ear. 

The window over the front porch was open, and Shelton, 
followed by the two survivors, made the leap of about twenty 
feet, and although severely shaken landed in the street with 
unbroken bones. When young Eldridge sprang from the roof 
of the porch one of his shoes fell off, but, expecting to see the 
front door open and to hear the pistol pop again, he dared 


100 


THE FUGITIVES. 


not stop to pick it up, but sped on in the darkness. It was 
not long before all three were out of breath and obliged to 
stop, completely exhausted by their exertions, the excitement, 
the leap for life and liberty, and the run. After a hasty con¬ 
sultation they took the nearest route to the woodland, which 
was not far away from the suburbs of any town in West Vir¬ 
ginia at that time. After what seemed a long time, but in 
reality only a few minutes, their faltering strides brought, 
them into the forest. So far they had kept together, and now 
for the first time they dared to rest a little. 

Shelton and Eldridge asked each other in the same 
breath : “ Where is Morgan ? ” “ Did you see him ? ” and 
peered back into the darkness, listening anxiously to hear the 
sound of his approaching steps. Green at last recovered suffi¬ 
cient breath to speak, and informed them of Morgan’s fate. 

But to return to the jail. We who were locked up in the 
cells cognizant of the attempt, heard the slight sounds made 
by Shelton in getting out of his cell, and letting his associ¬ 
ates out; then came the light scraping of removing the mor¬ 
tar, the rustle made in getting into the flue, and the falling of 
the brick which aroused the watchman. For a few moments 
we strained our ears in vain to catch any further sound, but 
all was silent; then suddenly came a pistol shot, then another, 
then a third and fourth, followed by the terrible noise of the 
wounded man. All was now in an uproar; Jones and the 
watchman rushed into the street to raise an alarm; his wife 
and children were in a tremor of apprehension; and soon the 
jail was surrounded by an excited crowd. 

We soon gathered from the conversation that some one 
had been killed, and were told by one of the Joneses that it 
was Eldridge. As he had endeared himself to all in the place, 
there were general expressions of grief, and Wesley and 
myself could not restrain our tears. It was not long, how¬ 
ever, before we ascertained that the murdered man was 
Morgan. 

We left the fugitives recovering their breath in the edge 


FOR PENNSYLVANTA. 


101 


of the forest, which extended to a great distance, unbroken 
save by the occasional clearings of the settlers. It was grow¬ 
ing light, and each one began to take an account of stock and 
to realize his physical condition by an examination of the torn 
and grime-covered clothes, the cuts and scratches. There 
was little left of the shirts and pants with which they started 
out on that memorable morning. Young Eldridge’s shoeless 
foot was lacerated and bleeding ; to protect it in some degree 
from the stones and briers, he tore off strips from his dilapi¬ 
dated shirt and bandaged the unfortunate member that must 
perform its share of locomotion. During the day they made 
but little progress, concealing themselves in the densest 
thickets, not daring to speak above a whisper or hardly stir a 
step for fear some treacherous twig might snap under their 
feet. At last, when the long summer day was ended, and dark¬ 
ness spread a veil over their movements, they took up their 
lonely and fearful tramp through the pathless forest, resolved 
on placing as great a distance as possible between themselves 
and Wheeling jail. 

Their intention was to keep to the northeast and cross the 
boundary line into Pennsylvania. Thus they wandered cour¬ 
ageously on through the night, with nothing to relieve the 
pangs of hunger save the leaves and twigs they chewed, or an 
occasional draught of water from a pool left in the dried-up 
bed of a watercourse. 

Resting and sleeping through the days, avoiding all signs 
of civilization, they traveled three nights, and as the fourth 
morning dawned they felt so certain they were in Pennsyl¬ 
vania, and were so nearly starved, that they held a consulta¬ 
tion and decided to send one of their number forward to a 
clearing near which they had halted, to ascertain their where¬ 
abouts, and, if possible, to obtain food. 

Eldridge volunteered to do this, and after borrowing a 
shoe, and putting himself into as presentable shape as possi¬ 
ble with the best tatters remaining among the party, he 
advanced to the edge of the clearing and found himself on the 


102 


“ no me again: 


brow of a hill looking down into a valley in which was a large 
stream of water beyond gleaming in the distance. He beck¬ 
oned to his companions yet within view, who hastened to the 
spot where he stood. They were more familiar with the 
country, and as soon as they looked down into the valley 
exclaimed simultaneously: 

“ That is Wheeling! and yonder is the jail! ” 

It would be impossible to describe their feelings — their 
chagrin, astonishment, and disappointment at this unex¬ 
pected return to the near proximity of the very jail, the mem¬ 
ories of whose iron bars and gloomy walls had spurred them 
on to superhuman efforts and to endure those weary miles of 
travel, all for naught! Starved, covered with bruises and 
sores, almost naked — what could they do ? That was indeed 
a serious question, one involving liberty, very possibly their 
lives. Should they take to the woods again, perhaps to wan¬ 
der weary days and nights in vain ? One thing was certain, 
they must get away from where they were, and without delay. 

Wheeling being situated on the eastern side of the Ohio 
River, across which lies the State of Ohio, the fugitives 
reasoned that if they could cross the river they would be 
beyond the jurisdiction of the State of West Virginia. They 
retired to a thicket and held a “ council of war,” deciding to 
make the circuit of the city, reach the bank of the river some 
miles above, and find some means of crossing. This plan 
they proceeded to put into immediate execution, for they were 
literally starving, and fully aware that their strength would 
not hold out much longer. Shortly after, while plodding 
wearily onWard, they came to a piece of marshy ground 
covered with huckleberry bushes, the fruit of which was just 
ripening. They eagerly gathered the berries which satisfied 
the cravings of hunger. Then, selecting a place of conceal¬ 
ment, they lay down to rest a little while — not to sleep. 

Unconsciously they succumbed to Nature’s great restorer, 
and the three miserables became fast-bound in the arms of 
Morpheus, oblivious to all surroundings. 


BERRYING PREVENTS BURYING. 103 

A farmer’s wife with her children came into the patch to 
gather berries. Soon the children strayed from their mother 
and gradually came near the sleeping trio, who were at last 
aroused by the chatter and laughter. In the confusion attend¬ 
ing their sudden awakening they did not recognize the nature 
of the disturbance, and, supposing they had been observed 
while picking berries, and that search was being made for 
them, they bounded to their feet to make another run. 

The sudden uprising of the m&i was observed by the 
children, who, with cries of terror fled pell-mell down the hill. 
The mother heard the cries, and supposing they had been 
frightened by a snake, followed rapidly after them. The es¬ 
caped prisoners took in the situation at a glance, and were 
satisfied there was no immediate cause for alarm, but decided 
to move on and get as many miles away from the spot as their 
weary feet would permit. Eldridge and his companions 
watched the fleeing group with some amusement. The for¬ 
mer had now assumed the leadership of the party, and as he 
was taking a general survey, he espied a tin-pail—abandoned 
by the children in their flight — and asked one of his men to 
bring it, for with that pail he conjectured many possibilities 
in the way of foraging and cooking. The man soon returned 
with it, partly filled with berries; then all hands set to work, 
filled the pail and departed. 

When night overtook them they crept into a barn, which 
proved a grateful shelter and a boon to men who had passed 
so many nights in the woods, their almost naked bodies 
exposed to the bites of insects. 

Eldridge said afterward that he never enjoyed lodging in 
any first-class hotel in America or Europe as he did his bed 
of soft sweet hay in that barn. 

They all awoke at dawn new men, and after an early 
breakfast on the berries, started with renewed courage on the 
tramp for liberty. It was not long before the pangs of hun¬ 
ger again reminded them of their lack of food, and set them 
to cogitating upon ways and means to obtain supplies. They;- 


104 


FORAGING. 


resolved to reconnoitre at every farm-house until they found 
one where no dog was kept, conceal themselves until night, 
and then make a raid on the pantry, for they were still too 
near Wheeling to venture openly to ask for food of the hos¬ 
pitable Western farmers, who are ever ready to feed the 
hungry wayfarer if they do not believe him to be an idle 
vagabond. 

The part of West Virginia where they were then traveling 
was quite thickly settled, and it was not long before they 
came to a place which Eldridge thought would answer the 
purpose. After dark they went into the barn and slept upon 
the hay-mow. About midnight they proceeded to the kitchen, 
and Shelton quietly raised a window, drew himself in, and 
soon reappeared with a large loaf of bread and a pan of milk. 
These they took to the barn and there enjoyed the greatest 
feast of their lives. After the banquet, it was daylight. Being 
shirtless, they “ borrowed ” a horse-blanket, tore it into three 
pieces for coverings, and then departed with all speed. 

They were nearing the Ohio River, and by noonday were 
again famishing. The first eatable thing they saw was a 
goose. They got between the goose and the distant farm- 
liouse, and after a long, crooked (at any other time laughable) 
chase, their dinner was won. The goose was quickly killed, 
plucked, and cut up ready for cooking. The trio were so 
hungry, however, that they could not await the slow process 
of boiling; so, hastily collecting some leaves and dry sticks, 
Shelton lighted the pile with a match he had brought from 
the farm-house, and the party were soon swallowing pieces of 
the goose just about warmed through. About half the food 
was saved and carried along for another meal, and on reach¬ 
ing the bank of the Ohio River they built another fire and 
supped off boiled goose. They little thought it was the last 
time they should eat together. 

The river, where they were about to cross, is more than a 
quarter of a mile wide, with a swift and treacherous current, 
the eddies and. swirls of which tend to draw a swimmer under. 






































SAVED. 


105 


As they did not dare to cross by daylight, they lay quiet till 
dusk. Each had pulled a board from a fencq, to aid in cross¬ 
ing the turbulent stream. Launching boldly into the river, 
for a time they kept together, but as they were whirled about 
in various directions, Eldridge soon lost sight of his com¬ 
panions, who were having a struggle to keep their heads 
above water-, and, indeed, that was exactly his own case. 
But at last he could descry, looming up in the darkness, the 
high bank of the Ohio shore. This encouraged him to greater 
exertions, and he got within a few feet of land when the 
rapid current drew him under a flat-bottomed scow which was 
moored to the bank. After struggling under water for what 
seemed to him an age, his head striking the bottom of the 
boat during the time, he became insensible. 

When he regained consciousness, he was lying on the 
shore, with his legs still in the water, and the morning sun 
shining in his eyes. He could never understand how he came 
to be saved. He lay for a time, too weak and exhausted to 
do more than pull his legs out of the water. 

Becoming somewhat revived, he spread the piece of horse- 
blanket and the remains of his trousers out to dry, while he 
lay in the sunshine. The hot summer sun soon dried his 
scanty raiment and warmed him into life. He saw a collec¬ 
tion of houses in the distance, toward which he proceeded, in 
the hope of finding a railway station, for he had heard the 
rumbling of trains, and determined to steal a ride if possible, 
as he was not more than twenty miles from Wheeling. 

When near the village, he crept into a field of corn to 
wait till night, and appeased his hunger by gnawing the 
green corn off the ears. About ten o’clock he made his way 
to the vicinity of the station to await an opportunity to board 
some train. After a time a locomotive without a train came 
along, and while stopping to take in wood and water, he stole 
up behind and seated himself on the fender-block. Away rum¬ 
bled the engine at high speed toward Pittsburgh, and Eldridge 
found himself in a position he had not bargained for. The 


106 


ELDRIDGE'S NIGHT RIDE. 


space on which he was sitting was very narrow, and the 
lurches of the engine nearly threw him off repeatedly, it 
being only by the exertion of all his power that he managed 
to keep on. When he thought he could not hold out for a 
moment longer, the engine came to a stop just outside of 
Pittsburgh, and Eldridge was enabled to leave his dangerous 
position, unobserved. 

He “ levied ” upon a scarecrow for an old coat and pair of 
trousers, but was still barefooted. This genteel young man, 
being reduced to the condition of a tramp and cadger, got on 
as far as Harrisburg by means of freight and cattle trains, 
sometimes traveling along the track or on the highway. No 
longer fearing recognition, he boldly applied at the farm¬ 
houses for food and lodging, and, despite his dilapidated 
appearance, he was generally not long in a house before he 
became a welcome guest. 

At Harrisburg he was obliged to apply at the police station 
for a night’s lodging, but he was now nearly at the end of his 
hardships. While in that place he had an opportunity to 
read the papers, and for the first time saw an account of the 
escape from jail, detailing the death of Morgan, and that a 
reward of $500 was offered for the recapture of himself and 
each of his companions. He never heard of these since he 
saw them struggling desperately for life in the turbid waters 
of the Ohio. It is certain they were never recaptured, and 
Eldridge has always believed they were then drowned. 

Soon after leaving Harrisburg, on foot, he came to a large 
country villa, and applied for food. The master of the house 
happened to be at home, and something in the appearance of 
Eldridge attracted his notice. He immediately invited him 
in, and after hearing a part of his story, called in his wife 
and daughters, and all became greatly interested in listening 
to the recital of his experiences, which he recounted just as 
they happened, except that he played the part of an ex-Con- 
federate soldier, instead of an escaped civil prisoner. The 
ladies showed great sympathy for him, and when he left, gave 


A BENEVOLENT QUAKERESS. 


107 


him money to pay his fare to Philadelphia, and a substantial 
luncheon to carry with him. He ascertained that the gentle¬ 
man was one of the Harrisburg city magnates. 

He reached Philadelphia without further adventure, and 
as he had no acquaintance nearer than New York City, he set 
out for a tramp through New Jersey. On the second day, 
when a few miles from Trenton, he called at a large farm¬ 
house which proved to be the residence of a wealthy widowed 
Quaker lady. She gave him a bountiful dinner, but pre¬ 
viously (his travel-worn looks and dilapidated apparel not 
according with her Quaker ideas of neatness) the old lady 
selected a complete suit from her departed husband’s ward¬ 
robe, and told him to take it — with a bucket of water, soap, 
scrubbing-brush, and towel — to the barn, and tidy himself 
up. This he was only too glad to do, and after doing justice 
to the dinner, and with some money in his pocket, he left the 
kind-hearted Quaker lady, clothed in the habiliments of an 
honest man, and a few days later he was in New York among 
friends. 

Eldridge was a man who had been religiously brought up, 
but had gradually and imperceptibly fallen into ways of 
obtaining money whereby not only his liberty, but also his 
life, had been placed in jeopardy. Does any one believe that 
if he had foreseen the ultimate dangers attending a first false 
step, he would have taken it ? 



Chapter XL 


A FUTILE PLAN — AN “ OLD SAW ” —A NEW CONSPIRACY TO ESCAPE —A TRAITOR — 
I AM “BUCKED ” AND HORSEWHIPPED — TO HEAL MY WOUNDED SPIRIT I SET 
THE JAIL ON FIRE — CHRISTMAS DINNER IN JAIL — MY PARTY ESCAPE — CROSS 
THE OHIO IN A “ BORROWED ” BOAT—A STOLEN RIDE — A “TRAMP”—GOOD 
LUCK AND GOOD SAMARITANS — MEET PENEY IN NEW ORLEANS. 


HE events recorded in the last chapter, up to the moment 



when the fugitives leaped from the porch, created a 
great commotion among us who were left in durance. The 
death of Morgan made but little impression upon us, com¬ 
pared with the fact that three had escaped and were at liberty. 
Each prisoner said to himself : “ What a fool I was not to go 
with them! ” 

Jones, the jailer, allowed the prisoners to read his paper 
— a small sheet published daily in Wheeling — otherwise 
there was no provision made to supply them with reading 
matter. The master-builder’s friends sent him an occasional 
book, which I borrowed. One of these was the prose and 
poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, the “ Byron of America,” and I 
committed to memory “ The Raven,” and other pieces. 

I had soon tired of card-playing, especially poker, for I 
soon discovered that Charley Meredith, in one way or another, 
was certain to win whenever I played with him. I then whit¬ 
tled out a set of chess-men, but all who played with me soon 
became discouraged with their “hard luck.” Therefore, much 
of the time hung heavily on my hands, and as this was the 
first time that I had been under lock and bolt the sentence 
of two years seemed as hard to bear as did the later one of 
“ life ” in England. In consequence, my mind dwelt con¬ 
stantly on the question of how to escape; but for three 


( 108 ) 



THE MAN WITH THE TRAY. 


109 


months after Eldridge and party had taken “ French leave’’ 
I could settle upon no feasible way, although one plan had 
suggested itself to me. It was customary for some prisoner 
to bring the rations contained in a large wooden tray into the 
corridor, the wife or daughter of the jailer unlocking the iron 
gate for that purpose when Jones himself was absent, which 
was frequently the case. I induced one of the prisoners, 
whom I thought reliable, to volunteer to bring in the tray; 
also letting three or four others into my plan, which was as 
follows : In October at the usual supper hour it began to grow 
dusk. We were accustomed to gather at this gate to look 
out into the street through the front entrance, and merely 
made way for the man to pass with the tray. When I saw a 
favorable opportunity I was to have my party posted near the 
gate, and as our confederate entered he was to “ accidentally ” 
drop the tray, so that the gate could not be closed. We were 
then to rush out, hasten to the front entrance, which was 
fastened only by a bolt during the day, open the door, and 
dash up the unfrequented streets to the same forest which 
Eldridge and party reached. It was a run of about a mile, 
the last of it up a steep hill; but as it would be nearly or 
quite dark, I considered that those of us who were county 
prisoners, dressed in citizens’ clothes, stood more than an even 
chance of success. 

On two occasions I had everything arranged, but at the 
critical moment the heart of the man with the tray failed 
him, and I was obliged to abandon the project. 

It may have been fortunate for me that the plan failed, 
and I insert here the summary of an account which shows 
how an exactly similar plan proved abortive at the Rochester 
jail, on the 10th of September, 1873 : “ When Mrs. Beckwith, 
the jailer’s wife, opened the iron gate leading into the corridor 
where the prisoners were walking about, four of them made a 
rush for liberty, bearing Mrs. Beckwith back. The intrepid 
woman fought nobly. She seized two of them by the hair 
and screamed. Just at this moment constable Suits happened 


110 


WORKING AT THE BARS. 


to come into the jail on business and went to the rescue. Mr. 
Beckwith also hastened to the spot with a revolver, and pre¬ 
senting the muzzle, threatened to fire. The prisoners seeing 
that he meant ‘ business,’ withdrew, and Mrs. Beckwith was 
released from her unpleasant position.” 

One of us prisoners, a Welchman, was a bricklayer and 
plasterer, and had been taken out daily to work about the 
city. One day while delving at a foundation, he picked out 
of the rubbish an old, rusty caseknife, which he slipped into 
his pocket and brought to his cell, thinking it would be better 
to eat with than his fingers. One of his comrades mentioned 
the find and I got him to procure it by stealth, for I saw 1 
could make a saw which would saw through the bars, and in 
imagination saw liberty in the near future. I hid the knife 
away in a crevice, and waited to see if any inquiry was made 
for it. After a few days I gave it to Marks, one of the 
Adams Express robbers, who made notches in it with a jack¬ 
knife blade he had procured. I then took charge of it again, 
and Wesley and I rubbed it by turns for two or three days on 
the stone floor of our cell, until the blade, which was of good 
steel, was as thin at the back as at the front. 

I did not dare do much myself, as the jailers, male and 
female, watched me incessantly, but paid little attention to 
what the others did. I directed Marks and Peney to take 
turns in sawing with the notched knife at the bars of the 
back window, which were of one-inch round iron. There 
were usually eight or ten persons walking about on the stone 
floor, which would partially cover up the noise made by the 
sawing, but this made so penetrating and unusual a sound 
that I feared it would attract attention. I therefore directed 
two of the men to bring a bucket of water, procured a zinc 
wash-board, which I gave them, and told them to take some 
dirty clothes and rub away with all their might just in front 
of where the sawing was going on. This completely deceived 
the jailer and his family, for on more than one occasion they 
came to the gate to see what caused the singular noise, and 


TREASON. 


Ill 


on seeing the men rubbing briskly, went away satisfied. I 
knew that the night-watchman examined the bars of the win¬ 
dow every night, so I mixed up a black dough of soot and 
soap, and when the sawing was done for the day, I had the 
men cover up the evidences of their work with this mixture. 

In each cell was an iron bed-frame, hinged so as to turn 
up against the wall in the daytime, but when let down occupy¬ 
ing nearly the whole space. With the knife-saw I cut nearly 
in two one of the bars which ran across the bed-frame, so that 
I could wrench it off to use as a lever in case of necessity. 

Marks and Peney insisted that one bar cut out of the win¬ 
dow would give sufficient space to get through, and I could 
not convince them of their error until I got four strips of 
wood and fastened them into a square just the size of the hole 
they intended to make. As the smallest could not get his 
shoulders through, they were satisfied, and in four days had 
two bars cut nearly through at the bottom end, and half 
through two feet higher up; all this had been accomplished 
without discovery. At least a dozen prisoners were cognizant 
of what was going on, and at last one of them plucked up 
courage enough to betray the plot, in the hope of thereby 
currying favor with the authorities — a common trait among 
the vilest-minded prisoners of all countries, as I have learned. 

Neither of us conspirators suspected this treason, and all 
who intended to escape if they could, retired to rest happy in 
the belief that they were passing their last night in that place. 
The next morning the cell doors were not opened at the usual 
time, and I felt at once that there had been a traitor among 
us, and that our plans had been unveiled. About 8 o’clock 
the sheriff, jailer, and two or three men came into the corridor, 
the cell doors were opened, each man ordered out singly and 
ct bucked.” Perhaps some of my readers do not know the 
meaning of that word. The hands are tied together at the 
wrists; the man then sits down on the floor and draws his 
knees up to the chin; his arms are then forced down over 
the knees so that a stick can be thrust through above the 


H2 ESCAPE A SANITARY NECESSITY. 

arms and beneath the knees. This renders a man completely 
helpless, so that he may be tumbled about at will. After all 
engaged in the plot had been thus “ fixed, 1 ” Jones came to 
me, and striking me heavily across the hams with a rawhide 
several times, demanded “ that knife.” I told him it was un¬ 
lawful for a jailer to strike a county prisoner, and since he 
had not asked for it before striking me in my helpless state, 
he could take it out in “ rawhide.” He was about to proceed 
to greater extremities, when Wesley very sensibly said : “ I 
will give it to you if you will untie me.” This was done, the 
knife given up, and all were released from “ buck.” 

Wesley and I were ordered into our cell, both doors closed 
and locked, and directions given that we were not to be per¬ 
mitted to leave the cell day or night. Until our final escape, 
two months later, we were never out of that stifling dungeon 
— for it was nothing less. 

This treatment made us ugly, and thenceforward wC did 
everything we could to annoy the jailer — on one occasion 
nearly destroying the place by fire. We had procured some 
matches, which we lighted, dropped through a hole in the 
stone floor into the basement, which was filled with bedding- 
straw, and when we saw this was on fire we stopped the hole 
so that we might not* be suffocated. Before the fire was 
discovered it had made such headway that it became a diffi¬ 
cult matter to subdue it and save the place. Wesley and I 
were suspected, but when they interrogated us we would 
answer no questions, and heard no more of it afterwards. 

My mind was more than ever made up to escape, for there 
were still seventeen months out of the two years to stay, and 
I felt sure we two could not long survive confinement day 
and night in a cell which, according to modern scientific 
ideas, was but half large enough for one man. After we 
were shut in as above, we had no means of communication 
with the other prisoners save through a small hole that had 
been drilled through the wall into the next cell, which Peney 
occupied. 





BLACK MARIA CONVEYING THE FORGERS THROUGH LONDON IN CHAINS 


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MARKS , LOCKSMITH. 


113 


As he and Marks were the ones on whom I depended to 
carry out my plan, I had only to whisper my directions through 
the hole, and Peney would communicate them to Marks. After 
the discovery of the sawed bars, a blacksmith had come there 
and, without removing them, had put over the space heavy 
clamps and bars, which were fastened with nuts and screwed 
up tight. Some pieces of wood and strips of copper had been 
hoarded up and concealed; of these, Marks, with his knife- 
blade, managed to make a wrench, by cutting a square hole in 
a piece of the wood, and binding it with the strips of copper. 
This he finished, and on trial found it would unscrew the 
nuts. That fact proved, the wrench was hidden, and Marks 
tried his hand at making a key to fit the lock of the outer 
door of my cell, so that when the time for action should come 
we could be let out. In a few days the key was finished, and 
found to do its work admirably. We had kept the new plan 
as secret as possible, only six of us being aware of it. 

Now all was ready; but the next day was Christmas, and 
as Mrs. Jones had promised all her unwilling boarders a good 
dinner, I thought we had better stay and eat it, especially as 
on that day there would be a better opportunity to leave the 
premises, everyone being engaged in preparation for the even¬ 
ing’s festivities. 

Accordingly Mrs. Jones, with the aid of her daughter, gave 
us a really good Christmas dinner of turkey, the prisoners, 
except Wesley and myself, being allowed out in the corridor 
all day — the man who I felt certain had betrayed us, being 
one of the favored ones ; but as the whole work at the window 
would occupy only a few minutes, I relied on the surprise and 
consequent irresolution to keep him and others silent until 
we w6re gone. 

There had been much noise and confusion in the corridor 
all this Christmas afternoon, the jailer and his family being 
in too jolly a condition to take notice of what was transpiring, 
especially jailer Jones, who was rather fond of his whisky. 
At half-past four it was dusk, and, as arranged, I passed 
8 


114 


OUT OF THE DEPTHS . 


the iron bar through to Peney; Marks took his wrench and 
soon removed the clamps and bars from the window; Peney 
unlocked my cell door, and I handed him the heavy sewer- 
pipe casting before mentioned as rusted loose. While this 
was transpiring, Wesley and I remained in the cell, not dar¬ 
ing to show ourselves in the corridor, for fear some of the 
jailer’s family might notice us. 

With a few blows of the casting Peney broke out the par¬ 
tially sawed bars of the window, and popped through into the 
back-yard, followed by the three other conspirators. Then 
Wesley and I started; he passed through the hole, but I, 
expecting we should be obliged to break the lock of the yard 
gate, delayed to put the casting through, so as to have it 
* ready in case Peney failed to wrench it off with the bed-frame 
bar. I then got through, picked up the casting, turned 
around, and, to my astonishment, saw none of them except 
Wesley, who stood on top of a heap of rubbish, trying in vain 
to reach the roof of a small out-house that stood in a corner 
of the yard. I saw how matters stood, ran and boosted him 
up, then he pulled me up, from thence easily reaching the 
top of . the wall, from which we dropped safely about twenty 
feet to the ground. We found ourselves in a narrow lane, 
which led in one direction toward the business portion of the 
city upon the river, and in the other to the quiet streets 
reaching out into the suburbs and to the woods. Our four 
associates were nowhere in sight, and we conjectured they 
had gone toward the woods. Wq took the opposite direction, 
walked down the lane, crossed two streets, and came to Water 
Street, which was thronged with people. We turned down 
this, and after walking a quarter of a mile, passed the station 
and came to some passenger cars standing on a side track. 
We entered one of these, thinking to stay till later in the 
night; but a watchman seeing us, came into the car, which 
we left by the other door, and walked on down the track, he 
following us for some distance, then turning back, greatly to 
our relief. About a mile below the town we came to a saw- 


DOWN THE “ O-lII-O: 


115 


mill, and looking down from the high bank, saw a sight that 
made our hearts thrill with joy—a boat glinting in the moon¬ 
light, hauled up on a raft of timber. Creeping down the 
bank, upon the raft we found a large flat-bottomed skiff, 
which we quickly and silently pushed into the water, and 
getting in, with two pieces of board in lieu of oars, we were 
soon slowly propelling our stolen bark across the Ohio. We 
neared the opposite bank about two miles below, when sud¬ 
denly hearing men’s voices, we ceased paddling, and heard 
some one shouting: “ What are you doing with that stolen 
boat?” Instead of replying, we silently turned her bow 
toward the middle of the river, and as we were disappearing 
in the darkness, could distinguish the words, “ Wheeling jail,” 
“ escaped prisoners,” etc. We floated down about a mile, and 
the clouds having veiled the moon completely, ventured to 
paddle to the shore, where we disembarked and pushed the 
boat as far out into the river as possible, so as to leave no 
indication that we had landed at that point. 

We found ourselves, at about eight o’clock p. m., half a 
mile above Bellaire,Ohio—the railway junction before referred 
to. As it was quite dark, we ventured into the outskirts of 
the village, and coming to a small grocery I sent Wesley in 
to get some crackers and cheese — this because, being the 
one on whom Jones would wreak revenge if caught, it was 
incumbent on me to take no risk of recapture. 

We then skirted the town and struck the railway, which 
runs west by the way of Zanesville, Columbus, and Cincinnati, 
to Chicago, which latter city was the point we desired to reach. 
After walking along the track at a rapid rate for perhaps ten 
miles, we came to Belmont station — near which Eldridge 
had escaped by leaping from the car window, as elsewhere 
related — about eleven p. m. Here we found an empty cattle- 
train that had just passed us, bound west. As it was very 
dark and raining heavily, I sent Wesley groping in the dark 
to the rear of the train to have a look into the caboose. 
Returning soon, he reported that there was a man sitting 


116 


HUMAN CATTLE. 


within who looked like Pender, despite which information I 
thought it best not to miss the opportunity of getting as far 
away from Wheeling as possible, even on the same train with 
him; therefore we crept up on the top of a caj* and let our¬ 
selves down through the trap-door used for feeding cattle. 
Soon the train moved on, and by eight o’clock the next 
morning we were within a few miles of Zanesville, or about 
seventy miles from Wheeling. For want of locomotive power 
to draw the train up an incline, the cars were stopped in a 
deep cutting, and then a brakeman came along the top, got 
down at the front end of the one we were in and uncoupled 
it, without even glancing through the bars. Had he done so 
he could not have failed to see us two shivering fugitives 
crouched down in one corner at the other end, trying to 
shield ourselves from the sleet and rain which drove through 
the sides and ends of the car. During our long night ride 
this had wet our clothing through and * chilled us to the very 
bones. As soon as the cars were uncoupled, the engine 
started with the portion of the train ahead of us, and soon 
disappeared over the brow of the incline. We then climbed 
out through the trap, jumped off and scrambled up the bank 
into a field, stopped at a small stream, washed our hands and 
faces, and soon after called at a farmer’s house, where we 
remained several hours, drying our clothes and enjoying the 
hospitality freely accorded until sunset, when we walked in to 
Zanesville. 

Walking along the crowded main street, with eyes wide 
open, we suddenly spied Pender standing in front of a store, 
watching the passers-by. Instantly turning, we got away, 
and proceeding to another part of the town, I ascertained 
that the trains stopped on the other side of the Muskingum 
River. Being afraid to take the train at the Zanesville sta¬ 
tion, we started to walk across the railway bridge, and were 
obliged to hasten, as the train was about to start. Following 
the railway track we arrived at the bridge, which was about 
a quarter of a mile long, and stepped along from tie to tie 3 


“OFF YOU GO! 


117 


fearing the train would be upon us. Being very dark, the 
sound of the rushing stream below filled my mind with 
strange thoughts as to the consequence of a single false 
step — a plunge into the ice-cold water, from which there 
could be no escape. It was a terrible walk, and at each step 
I expected that one or the other of us would go through. 
When about half-way over we heard the train coming, and at 
the same instant saw, or rather heard, a man crossing by the 
foot-way which ran along the side, this having escaped our 
notice. Indescribable were our feelings of relief when, after 
cautiously climbing across to the foot-path, we found ourselves 
in safety. Hastening across, we reached the station just in 
time to get on the train, and arrived at Dresden, the junction 
with the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway, having 
expended my last cent in paying our fare. It being ten 
o’clock, and the train northward three hours late, we lay 
down on the station-house floor and slept until the rumbling 
of the approaching train aroused us to the necessity of con¬ 
tinuing our flight. 

Although we had no money to buy tickets we went aboard, 
and when the conductor came along I gave him fifty cents in 
stamps, explaining that I had been down in West Virginia, 
that I was out of money and had been disappointed in receiv¬ 
ing more from home, and that I would send him the balance 
for our fares as soon as I reached home. But on this occa¬ 
sion my eloquence was wasted. The conductor said: “You 
can ride as far as the fifty cents pays; then off you go! ” 
Sure enough, it was not long before the train stopped in the 
woods, and we were promptly put down on the muddy ground. 
But we were not tired or hungry—were more than one hun¬ 
dred miles from Wheeling, and felt quite safe. A kind farmer 
gave us a good breakfast, and we walked on all day long. 
The heavy boots which I wore had taken the skin off my 
ankles, and by sundown I could hardly move along. We 
stopped at a farm-house to ask for relief, but the inmates 
whom we saw plainly through the windows, would not come 


118 


BY EXPRESS — “ D. Ii .’ 


to the door in response to our knocks. As I could go no 
farther, I lay down on the grass, and Wesley went on to the 
next house, returning soon with a gentleman, who incidentally 
informed us that he was lately from Appomattox and Rich¬ 
mond. I leaned on the shoulders of the two and thus reached 
the captain’s home. 

We were received by his old parents with the utmost hos¬ 
pitality ; the mother, after bathing and bandaging my feet, 
furnished us a good supper and showed us to a delightful, 
clean, soft bed, from which I arose the next morning a new 
man. After breakfast, these good Samaritans drove us to 
the Coshocton railway station. We now watched our chance, 
getting unobserved into an empty freight-car, and rode about 
one hundred miles to Norwalk, where this road joined the 
Lake Shore Line. 

Here I went into a saloon opposite the station and asked 
the proprietor to purchase a silk undershirt I had on. When 
I had explained to him that I wanted the money to pay my 
fare to Chicago, he said : 

“ Wait till the express train comes in, and there will be 
two express company’s cars ; stand by, and as soon as the 
train starts step on the platform between them. The con¬ 
ductor only goes through the passenger cars, therefore you 
can ride as far as you like undisturbed, only be sure to step 
off as the train arrives at a station.” 

We followed his advice, and were soon speeding along at 
thirty miles an hour toward a place of safety. 

It will be remembered I was brought from another State 
on a requisition charging me with felony. That charge not 
being substantiated, I should have been sent back to the State 
from which I had been taken. Being illegally imprisoned I 
had no scruples in attempting a general “ jail delivery,” and 
I especially desired to liberate Peney, who had a life sentence. 

The convicts were dressed in striped woolen clothes, there¬ 
fore Wesley and I had distributed our civilian garments among 
our fellow conspirators, retaining only enough to cover our- 


ANOTHER GREAT MORAL QUESTION. HQ 

selves. We managed to fit out all but one whom I will call 
Peters, and he was obliged to escape in the striped suit. 
Although it was dark, he had no sooner got into the street 
than the prison clothes were recognized; he was pursued, 
recaptured, and returned to his old quarters, where he sur¬ 
vived hut a short time, owing to the cruel treatment. A worse 
fate might have befallen me — the leader. 

The following winter my wife and I were in New Orleans 
for two or three months, and while walking on the levee one 
day I met Peney. He looked rather dilapidated, and said he 
had been steward on a river steamer, but had been out of a 
job for some time. As he had stood by me like a man in the 
Wheeling jail affair, before I left New Orleans I gave him in 
all some four or five hundred dollars, since which time I have 
seen or heard nothing of him. 

While on the southern tour I met a man named McCabe' 
at Mobile. He had been an ex-Confederate soldier—so he 
claimed —but was in the Wheeling jail when I arrived there. 
Having but a short time to serve, he would take no part in 
the plan of escape. This man then informed me as to what 
occurred after my “ departure ” ; among other things, what 
I have before stated about Peters. He also gave me the par¬ 
ticulars of the recapture of Marks, who, it appears, unwisely 
remained in West Virginia working at the carpenter’s trade. 
After some time he was recognized by one who informed 
Jones, and soon he was back in his old quarters to finish his 
seven years. 

Marks had been all his life an honest, hard working man, 
never having been implicated in crime until Charley Mere¬ 
dith, the gambler, had induced him to take part in the Adams 
Express robbery. 

As this is a typical case of several which have come 
under my observation, I will ask the reader to stop for a 
moment and ponder the question : Is it best, when a man 
breaks jail without doing bodily injury to any person — and 
goes to work with a determination to gain by his labor ant. 


120 


BOLIVAR'S OPERATIONS . 


honest livelihood — and has been doing so for a considerable 
length of time — to recapture him and force him to serve out 
the remainder of his sentence ? 

The Swiss never punish any man for attempting to escape ; 
they claim that it is natural for all creatures to try to regain 
their liberty when deprived of it; and it is the business of 
the authorities to guard prisoners and prevent them from 
escaping, and the prisoners’ right to escape if they can. 

Soon after my escape I went to New York, and calling on 
Mrs. Bolivar—a lady of very respectable family — I gave her 
a sufficient sum to pay her expenses to Wheeling. She at 
once proceeded there and procured a remission of one-half of 
her husband’s sentence ; so he was set at liberty four months 
after I quit that model jail. 

During her efforts to obtain her husband’s freedom I was 
in correspondence with her, sending her some money as 
required, and both came directly on to Baltimore to meet me, 
according to pre-arrangement. They then proceeded to New 
York, settled matters there, and removed their household 
goods to West Yirginia. 

All through the Wheeling affair 44 Bovar ” had claimed to 
be a victim, and had made a good many friends; and it was 
for this reason that he had determined to set up as a 44 doctor ” 
in West Yirginia. However, after a few months’ 44 practice,” 
he was back again in New York, having been obliged to fly on 
account of some 44 bad luck ” in the exercise of his 44 profes¬ 
sion.” Not long after his return to New York his amiable 
wife joined the silent majority. After some vicissitudes, he 
fell in with and married a wealthy Kentucky heiress, but by 
some means his new father-in-law learned something of his 
antecedents, and, by stratagem, got his daughter home, and 
threatened to shoot Bolivar if he ever put in an appearance 
there. Thus stood the matter when I went to England, and 
as to what was his ultimate fate, I have, at the moment of 
writing, no knowledge. 



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Chapter XII. 


FORGERS WILKES AND SHERIDAN — A BIG GOLD “ OPERATION ” IN WALL STREET 
FRUSTRATED—OTHER GOLD FORGERIES — ENGLES, “THE TERROR OF WALL 
STREET”—FIGHTING THE “ TIGER ” — THE FORGER AND GAMBLER AT HOME — 
FURTHER TRANSACTIONS — A MODEL CONSTABLE. 

A HISTORY of my operations in New York would be 
incomplete without some account of the leading but 
not dangerous part which on several occasions I took as buyer. 
For a long time it was a questionable point in my own mind 
whether I ought to expose the 7nodus operandi with which some 
of the most successful gold forgeries of the period were con¬ 
summated. I queried: Even if I give false names and dates, 
dare I make an exposition which will reflect on those who 
are appointed to guard the public against the attempts of the 
criminal classes ? 

Many other reasons suggested themselves which were 
well nigh sufficient to deter me from proceeding with this 
chapter. But I have set out to perform a task, to lay bare the 
most salient points of a checkered life, in the hope that the 
recital may prove interesting to all readers, and that many 
may be led to look upon the serious side of the question. I 
will begin with the first actual forgery with which I was 
connected. 

It will be remembered that I left Hilton in the Ludlow 
Street house of detention. By the expenditure of fifty or 
sixty thousand dollars, and my aid as negotiator, he was set 
at liberty without trial, although charged with having supplied 
the Confederate government with blank notes and bonds. In 
1867 Hilton introduced me to a Mr. Wilkes, whom I 
accompanied to the Brandreth House, where we had a long 




122 


THE WILKES PLAN. 


interview. He then accompanied me to a restaurant 
where he said a friend was awaiting him, and introduced me 
to one whom I have since discovered to be Walter Sheridan, 
whose portrait appears in Inspector Byrnes’s “ Professional 
Criminals.” I have no doubt that Wilkes introduced me to 
Sheridan that the latter might be able to judge as to what 
kind of a customer had been picked up as a monkey to pull 
their chestnuts out of the fire. 

After some general conversation Wilkes and myself 
returned to the Brandretli House, where he revealed to me 
that he had procured a genuine draft from a San Francisco 
firm on Messrs. Bowen, McNamee & Co., at that time the larg¬ 
est drygoods firm in America; that on presentation of this 
draft for payment, the firm stamped on it their acceptance 

and endorsed it, making it payable at their bank—the- 

National, on Broadway. 

“ Now,” said Wilkes, “ Hilton has made me two books 
of blank drafts which have the names of St. Louis houses 
printed in. All you have to do is to go into Wall Street and 
buy gold, fill in a draft for the amount, come out to me and I 
will put on the acceptance exactly like the genuine; then you 
can take it back, pay for the gold with it, let them send it to 
the bank to get it certified, then go back and take away the 
gold, provided there is no hitch at the bank. He went on to 
explain his plan in detail, which will appear as subsequent 
events are narrated. As the art of forgery was then to me a 
strange one, I was as much astonished at his revelations as 
I had been formerly at those of Frank Kibbe’s — being incred¬ 
ulous that such an operation could be successfully executed. 
However, I concluded to try it, and taking a man to act as my 
servant, I went to the Stevens House on lower Broadway, and 
engaged a room, to which Wilkes came unobserved. I then 
took my servant with me to a firm of gold and bullion brokers 
in Wall Street, Wilkes remaining outside for a purpose which 
will soon appear. I asked the price of gold ? “ One eighty 

(say),” was the reply. “I will take thirty thousand dollars,” 



AFTER GOLD. 


123 


I said — took out a book of blank drafts, filled one in for the 
amount, remarking, “ I will have to send this up to my cor¬ 
respondents for acceptance ” — at the same time saying: 
“ Here, James, take this up to Bowen, McNamee & Co., have 
it accepted, and bring it back to me. Hurry up ! ” The 
servant left, and as previously instructed, went to where 
Wilkes was waiting, who immediately filled out another draft 
which had the forged acceptance endorsed across its face, and 
sent it to me by the servant. I handed it to the broker who 
looked it over and said : 

“ This is payable at the- National bank, and as we 

N never deliver gold or other securities to strangers unless we 
get the bank’s acceptance, I will send and have it certified.” 

He gave it to a messenger who started for the door, but 
as he was passing I joined him, and as we came out I asked 
him how long he was likely to be gone. This was done in 
order that Wilkes, who was on the watch, might identify the 
messenger who had the draft, and be enabled to follow him 
to the bank to learn if it was accepted without demur. Mean¬ 
while I remained in the office. But what if suspicion should 
be aroused on presentation of the draft at the bank — inquiry 
be made at Bowen, McNamee & Co.’s, and the forgery dis¬ 
covered ? 

Of course I should at once be arrested at the broker’s 
office. To avoid such a risk, after the messenger had been 
gone a few minutes, I looked at my watch and remarked: “ I 
have time to meet another engagement, and will return soon.” 
I then went to a place just round the corner, as previously 
arranged with Wilkes. In about half an hour he came to me 
very much crestfallen and said : 

“ I lost the messenger somehow, and did not see him in 
the bank; but I think it is all right, for I went in a few min¬ 
utes since, everything appearing quiet, and I saw nothing 
unusual.” 

“ Well,” said I, “ shall I go and risk trying to get the 
money ? ” 



124 


FORGER AND POLTROON. 


“ No,” he replied, “ I don’t want you to take any chances; 
it is better to try again in another place.” 

I immediately took the servant, and with the exception of 
using the other draft-book with a different name, I went to an 
office nearly opposite the former place, and purchased twenty- 
five thousand in gold, going through all the same manoeuvres 
as before. This time he came back still more crestfallen than 
before, and said he had again lost sight of the messenger. 

As previously stated, such operations were new to me, 
but in the light of after experience I am able to deduce the 
probable cause of his failure. He was an old forger, and a 
great coward, one who would fly at his own shadow. Wall 
Street and the brokers’ offices at this time were thronged with 
speculators. At the offices where I made the gold purchases, 
persons were constantly passing in and out, and as there was 
a throng on the sidewalk, it was necessary in order to be sure 
of the messenger, that Wilkes should stand on the walk near 
the door. This he feared to do from the remote possibility 
that in some way suspicion might be aroused and I be arrested. 
In case of such an event he believed that I might do as per¬ 
haps he would were the case reversed — point out the man at 
the door as the actual forger. No doubt when I came out 
with the messenger, others were passing in and out about 
their business. Wilkes did not wait to see, but fled a short 
distance, then not being pursued, he recovered from his panic, 
and made his way to the bank in the hope of there meeting 
the messenger. 

The failure of these well-concerted schemes of robbery, 
after having executed my part so well, disgusted me. We 
adjourned to the Stevens House, and burned in the grate of 
the room I had taken all the papers connected with the 
case. It had cost Wilkes and Sheridan a thousand dollars to 
prepare for the job. This and many other failures in the dif¬ 
ferent branches of crime that I have known of, prove that the 
most skillful and experienced law-breakers often lose the cap¬ 
ital invested. I afterwards ascertained that the bills were 


A BLONDE SCOUNDREL. 


125 


duly certified and that the brokers held the gold ready for 
delivery, but as I did not call for it, they sent word to Bowen, 
McNamee & Co., inquiring why their customer had not called 
for the money. This resulted of course in a disclosure of the 
attempted forgery, and the bank officers no doubt congratu¬ 
lated themselves on the lucky escape from loss. I had no more 
to do with forgers or forgery until some years later, when I 
met George Engles. 

To show that forgers did obtain money, though failing to 
follow up the messengers, I will here introduce another char¬ 
acter—a skillful manipulator who took a prominent part in 
other transactions to be described. 

Despite the resolution I had formed—from the moment I 
had succumbed to Kibbe’s temptation at Baltimore — to have 
nothing to do with persons who committed crimes which, if 
detected, would send the doers to state prison (Kibbe’s mode 
of merchandise swindling not then incurring that penalty), 
the reader who has followed the thread of my story will 
perceive that one step led to another, until now I experienced 
no great repugnance at making the acquaintance of a man 
who I was informed lived by forgery. I saw him for the first 
time a few months before going to England. 

George Engles was by birth a Prussian, blue-eyed, blonde¬ 
haired, and slim in stature. Like Kibbe, he was a great cow¬ 
ard, but unlike him he was true to his friends. Although the 
product of his numerous forgeries amounted in the aggregate 
to hundreds of thousands, he never had any money long. 
The reason of this was that as soon as he obtained possession 
of any sum, however large, he was sure to play at faro until 
his last dollar was gone. He also drank heavily. He was 
well educated, and had been a good business man. At about 
twenty-two years of age he had left his German home* and 
settled in the city of New York, where he became a dealer in 
naval stores. While in this business he married a lady of 
German parentage, and at the time I became acquainted with 
the family they had six children. The wife appeared a good 


126 


GASTRONOMIC DISAPPOINTMENT. 


woman, and greatly attached to her husband and family. 
The children were bright, and had no suspicion as to the way 
their father, at that time, made his money. Some years pre¬ 
viously he had failed in business, and never after got a fresh 
start in an honest way of life. Under the pressure of poverty 
he had gradually relaxed the honest business principles brought 
from his fatherland, going on from one petty swindle to 
another, until, becoming bolder, he tried his hand at larger 
operations, till he finally turned to forgery, and at the time of 
which I write he was known as “ The Terror of Wall Street.” 
He always remained in the back-ground, prepared the forged 
papers, checks, etc., leaving to the more foolhardy the risk of 
presenting them, and the subsequent trial and imprisonment. 

With the mutual - acquaintance who introduced me to 
George Engles, I one day visited the home of the latter. We 
accepted an invitation to stay to dinner, believing that it would 
prove first-class, for we knew that he had the previous week 
received a large sum, the proceeds of an extensive forgery. 

We were a little staggered at discovering the furniture, 
carpets, etc., in his rooms to be pretty common and worn out. 
When dinner was announced, we went below to the usual 
basement dining-room. His anxious and amiable wife must 
have been greatly embarrassed iri her attempt to entertain 
guests in such an ill-furnished, dilapidated place. The chairs 
and table were broken; the cloth riddled with holes; the 
dishes cracked and mismatched. Everything was clean, and 
the food provided was well cooked by Mrs. Engles’ own 
hands; but the lack of variety and insufficiency in quantity 
made us feel as though every mouthful we took was needed 
by the hungry children. 

“And is it possible,” I soliloquized, “that a man with 
whom I divided several thousand dollars three days since, 
who is so pleasant, good-natured, and generous among his 
associates, can have become so infatuated with the game of 
faro as to have dropped the whole amount into the jaws of 
the “ tiger,” giving no part of it to relieve the wants of this 
faithful wife and her innocent children ?” 


A NEW JERSE Y ORDER. 


127 


This was my first and last visit to George Engles’s house, 
for soon after he left with me for England. Some months 
later he returned alone to America; I remained to pass half 
a lifetime in misery, taking a view of life from behind the 
bars, with plenty of time for retrospections. 



RETROSPECTIONS. 


Some days before the dinner referred to, George Engles 
came to the house where I lodged. After some, preliminaries, 
he said he was again out of money, and that if I would pro¬ 
cure the genuine check of some firm in good credit, one which 
would be likely to hold a heavy balance in bank, he would 
have some facsimile checks printed, and draw out all their 
money. I at once went to Newark, N. J., and going to a 
hotel I wrote an order for about fifty dollars’ worth of sample 
goods, enclosing a bill of exchange for one hundred dollars, 
payable to the order of, say Smith & Co., the letter being 
about as follows: 


















128 


SCC CESS. 


Messes. Smith & Co., New York: 

Gentlemen, — Please skip to me, at your earliest convenience, 
one ten-gallon keg of tke best brandy you can sell by the cask for 
$4.00 per gallon. I am about making a shipment to the South, 
and if the brandy proves satisfactory, you may receive a larger 
order. Please deduct the amount from enclosed bank draft, and 
remit me your check for any balance in my favor, with invoice, and 
oblige, etc. (signed any name). 

The next day I received the keg of brandy, and shipped it 
to a friend to sell for what he could get. I also received 
Smith & Co.’s check, and returning to New York, gave it 
to George Engles, who in two days had the blank checks 
ready. 

For certain reasons I wish to cover up, as far as possible, 
the place and names where the following operation was car¬ 
ried out. The next morning our party of three went to the 
vicinity of the Wall Street of a certain city, where we met a 
man in citizen’s clothes. This was a constable who had long 
been on special duty in the interests of the bankers and 
brokers, to prevent forgers, thieves, etc., from operating 
among them. He was introduced to us as “ reliable,” and 
I started out to buy gold, which was then about $1.80. This 
time I went in, and after getting the price, I agreed to take — 
I forget how much — say $10,000, and said I would be back 
in ten minutes to pay for the same; I proceeded to the place 
of rendezvous near by, and George Engles, in the presence 
of ourselves and the constable, filled out a check bearing the 
forged signature for the amount. This I took, followed by 
the constable and two others, who kept me in sight, and 
handed it in at the broker’s office. 

The broker gave it to a messenger, who hurried to the 
bank not far away to get it certified. Those who were on 
the watch followed him, and one of them went into the bank 
and saw the check handed to the cashier, who certified and 
gave it back to the messenger. In the meantime, as soon as 
the latter had gone toward the bank, I made an excuse to 





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OFFICIAL AID. 


129 


leave the office and hastened to a place near by, as previously 
agreed upon. As soon as the man who followed the messen¬ 
ger into the bank saw that the check was duly certified, he 
came out, and upon reaching the steps, lifted his hat in a 
natural way so as not to attract attention. 

This was recognized as a signal that the check had been 
duly accepted, and that it would be safe for me to return to 
the broker’s office for the money. Accordingly the constable, 
who happened to be nearest to where I was waiting, came 
within view of me, lifted his hat, and wiped his forehead with 
his handkerchief. I “caught on”—if I may be permitted 
the use of an expression which came into usage while I was 
in an English prison — and hurried back to the broker’s office, 
arriving there ahead of the messenger, who, when he returned, 
saw me standing quietly by the counter. The broker took 
the check and handed me the roll of Custom House gold 
certificates, which I deliberately counted, then walked out. 
As soon as I was in the street one of the party brushed by 
me, and as he passed I slipped the notes into his hand; he 
went direct to the Custom House, drew the gold for them, 
and brought it to the place of meeting, where we were by this 
time all arrived. The reason 1 instantly got rid of the notes 
was that had I been arrested the next moment, my confed¬ 
erates would have used the money to effect a compromise to 
procure my release, if other means failed. 

After concerting new places of meeting, I went and made 
a second purchase in a different part of the street, which was 
equally successful with the first. 

On again meeting at the place of rendezvous, the question 
came up as to whether we had drawn out all the firm’s balance 
in bank. After an exchange of pros and cons, the constable 
said: 

“We may as well have another go, boys; for if their bal¬ 
ance is all drawn out, they have good credit, and the bank 
won’t dishonor their check. Besides, in case of trouble, I 
shall be the first officer on hand, and as they all know me to 


130 


THE CONSTABLE’S PLAN. 


be ‘ dead nuts ’ on forgers, I should be the one called on to 
arrest Meigs [the name I was known by]. If that happen, 
1 will take him through a quiet street towards the police 
station. While on the way, as soon as we are in a suitable 
place, I will give him the tip, and he must 4 pop ’ me square 
in the eyes, so as to put them both in mourning, and then 
clear out as though the devil was after him. Of course I ’ll 
go back and be condoled with by my friends, the brokers, for 
my damaged eyes. But I say, boys [with a wink at the 
bags of gold, and a broad laugh], can’t I afford to stand a 
good right-hander for my share in that yellow stuff ? ” 

As I was the chief actor in the operation of this day, I 
had stood by silent while the discussion was going on, ready 
to try again or otherwise, as they should decide. The con¬ 
stable’s words decided the point. I went and made a third 
purchase, the same series of maneuvers being used as before, 
but owing to the throng about the door of the office where I 
made the purchase, those on watch outside mistook the mes¬ 
senger, following the wrong man. After discovering their 
error, one of them came and gave me the signal to remain 
where I was. It will be perceived that we were now in pre¬ 
cisely the same dilemma in which Wilkes and I were on a. 
former occasion, viz., we did not know whether the check 
had been certified or not; in consequence of which it was not 
safe for me to present myself for the money until that point 
should be settled. However, we were prepared for just such 
an emergency — to meet and to overcome it. 

The constable sauntered in the direction of the office 
where I had made the last purchase, stopping in at the 
various offices, as he was accustomed to do, inquiring if 
there was anything stirring in his line of business, until he 
reached the office in which we were for the moment inter¬ 
ested. As he entered there he gave a rapid look around, and 
saw that all was going on as usual — as he afterward told 
us — then said to one of the partners, carelessly: 

“ Well, is there anything 6 crooked’ going on, to-day ?” 


A SATISFACTORY “DIVY'\ 


131 


“No; I hear nothing,” was the reply. 

He came out to where I was waiting, and said: 

“ All right; go for it.” 

I went straight to the broker, and said: 

“I have been detained at the Custom House. I suppose 
you have my gold ready for delivery ? ” 

The gold notes were handed over, I counted them, walked 
out unmolested, and passed them to a confederate, as on the 
other occasions. Soon we were all at the place where Engles 
had remained during the day. We there divided the proceeds 
of the day’s spoils. The constable pocketed his share, equal 
to a year’s salary, shook hands all around, and departed 
highly pleased with his day’s “police duty”; the others of us 
returned to our places of residence in New York, some of 
them to squander the ill-gotten gains in doubtful enjoyments. 



Chapter XIII. 


GEORGE m’DONALD’S EARLY LIFE — GOES TO HARVARD COLLEGE—HIS PARENTS — 
HE LEAVES HOME — MEETS KIBBE, “THE ROGUE” — GETS INTO THE “ TOMBS ” 
I MAKE HIS ACQUAINTANCE —SKETCH OF AUSTIN BID WELL — A “MALE QUAR¬ 
TET” OFF FOR EUROPE — ARRIVAL IN LONDON — A “ DUET ” VISIT IRELAND — 
“ FREAKS ” ENDORSED ON BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES — MR. GREEN — HE INTRO¬ 
DUCES “WARREN ” TO THE BANK—MR. FRANCIS AND MR. FENWICK, BANK MAN¬ 
AGERS — WARREN OPENS AN ACCOUNT AT THE BANK OF ENGLAND. 

I N the early spring of 1872, soon after the events recorded 
in the last chapter, I agreed to make a foreign trip with 
George Engles, with a view of “ raising the wind ” out of 
European capitalists. I was as yet hut a novice in the art of 
forgery, and acted as subordinate to Engles who was the actual 
forger. 

As George McDonald was one of our party, a short sketch 
of his early life will be appropriate at this point. Although 
our circumstances in life were originally so unlike, yet we 
both reached the same goal — a prison. 

McDonald belonged to a good family, of Scotch-Irish 
descent, on the mother’s side in a direct line from the 
O’Neils, who were ancient kings of Ireland. He was born in 
1846, near Boston, in a beautiful country villa, the property 
of his father. This was surrounded by an evergreen hedge, 
beyond the limits of which the children were never permitted 
to stray, and were kept in charge of nurses and tutors until 
sent away to school or college. The mother was a high- 
minded, noble-hearted woman, of a religious character, and 
devoted to the moral and intellectual education of her children. 
The father was unbending and severe in the treatment of all 
delinquencies, and required his children to be, like himself, 
upright and exact in all the relations of life. Even when 

(132) 



ANOTHER DISCIPLE OF KTBBE’S. ^33 

well grown they were seldom permitted to associate with 
others of their own age for fear of contamination, and on 
those rare occasions, great care was taken in the selection of 
their companions. At an early age George was sent to Har¬ 
vard college, with the understanding that he was to become a 
physician. 

The foregoing will show that his opportunities were excel¬ 
lent— in marked contrast with the physical and mental 
privations of my early life. To that comparison I will 
add a very singular coincidence. After I had parted with 
Ivibbe in Buffalo, as related in a former chapter, McDonald, 
having left home as the result of some intrigue, and being 
afraid to face his stern father, started out to seek his fortune. 
Arriving at Chicago he fell in with Ivibbe, much in the same 
way that I had previously done. Ivibbe’s plausible way of 
“ putting things ” soon undermined his new pupil’s sense of 
honor, with the result that a merchandise swindling business 
was put in operation, and according to his usual plan “ The 
Rogue ” appropriated all the proceeds of the fraud, just as he 
had previously done by me. And like me, his doubly 
deluded victim believed he could make a fortune in this won¬ 
derful, newly discovered way — one which, to his inexperienced 
mind, appeared the “ open sesame ” to easily and safely 
acquired wealth. Of course it was not long before he was in 
“ trouble.” 

I first met him in the “ Tombs,” where he was a fellow- 
prisoner for a short time in the same cell with an acquaint¬ 
ance of mine. After I had effected the release of the latter, 
he urged me to go to tha “ Tombs ” to see and to use my 
“ influence ” in behalf of his late associate. I agreed to do 
so, and a few days later the young man McDonald was also 
set at liberty, he having lost it as the result of an attempt to 
get rich in the way Kibbe had shown him. 

Upon more intimate acquaintance I ascertained that he 
was of a wealthy family, well able to assist him into an honor¬ 
able business, and urged him by all means to go home — that 


184 


WORSE THAN FRATRICIDE. 


there could be but one end to such practices, and that end a 
prison. 1 told him that 1 had been engaged in the perpetra¬ 
tion of these merchandise frauds long enough to realize the 
danger, still, as I had no friends to assist me, I must continue 
on for a short time until I had a small capital to start with. I 
also added that each time I had almost gained my point, some 
“ trouble ” had caused me to expend all my cash in exchange 
for my own liberty, or that of some of my confederates. 
People seldom act on good advice, and shame of appearing 
among his friends also deterred him from acting on mine. 

The effect of a bad act, as of a good, reaches and influ¬ 
ences all ages to come. Generations yet to fill the earth in 
a dim and misty future will be worthy or unworthy according 
as we transmit to our immediate descendants influences good 
or evil. 

There are thousands of men now doing their utmost to 
corrupt the youth of the land, leaving, like Frank Kibbe, a 
serpent’s trail. 

Having made a study of all paths which lead to the 
seduction and destruction of young men; having full knowl¬ 
edge of the arts, blandishments, devices ; having learned the 
lesson from the beginning, witnessed its consumation, em¬ 
brace, ruin, and death,— I cannot resist the desire to warn 
young men to beware of temptations in whatever guise these 
may 'present themselves. 

Youth is unpractical, fond of excitement, more than 
generous — in truth, a universal philanthropist. Youth must 
avoid the fast young man,—he is kaleidoscopic, but is as old as 
Adam and Able to raise Cain. *He will degrade you and 
reduce you to his own moral level. 

My young friend, just starting out in business life, perhaps 
you are convinced by the actions of those around you that the 
attainment of wealth will place you on the pinnacle of 
happiness. This feeling will make )jou ambitious for show as 
a means of getting ahead; extravagant, and you will soon 
find yourself straightened for means to keep up the style of 


i 


DECEPTION. 


135 


your richer companions. A gulf is opened, an appalling gulf, 
which you see not, yet the glitter and tinsel surroundings, 
gaieties, bad female associations, even occasional mortifica¬ 
tions, all combine, and into the gulf you plunge. 

Then follows the first step — fancy it if you can— I can: 
Borrowing from employer, not by asking, but by taking from 
the cash; the futile resolutions to restore; the fictitious 
entries in the cash book; the false oaths attached to balance 
sheets ; the profuse expenditure ; then the forgery,— and you 
see the fate of thousands of promising young men with whom 
I have seen prisons filled. Discovery, disgrace, both of self 
and family, then suicide or a prison. 

My picture is not overdrawn. It is the daily, yea, the 
hourly record, a record of polluted minds and whirling brains, 
of shattered health and early death. 

One young man of twenty-seven, who occupied a prominent 
position in a Connecticut savings bank, defaulted, and fled to 
Canada. There, his money, dishonestly obtained, did not, as 
he had fondly hoped, contribute to happiness, and one day he 
killed himself in Montreal, leaving behind the following note : 
“ My prospects were such that many a young man might 
envy. I scarcely know how I have gone wrong.” (This is 
the feeling in all like cases. The temptations come in such 
plausible guise, that before the victim is aware, he has 
entered the path from which he escapes only by a miracle.*— 
G. B.) “ I have been chief sinner, and also chief sufferer. I 

am tired of life. If my body is found, I want a private 
funeral. I dont want anybody to mourn for me. If I could 
retrieve myself I would do- it, but I see no chance for it.” 

Those who read this book will perceive that the night 
after receiving a life sentence I gave way to the same feelings 
of despair which caused this young man to end his life, and 
put himself beyond the possibility of retrieving past errors. 

After the fifteen years in prison, some advised me to go 
West and bury myself under a false name, and die. But this 
book proves that such was not my way to retrieve the past. 


136 


WELL-NIGH GUILTLESS. 


That past, with all its terrible experiences, I put before the 
world as a flaming light to warn young business men, such as I 
was, to beware of the first deviation toward the path which 
ends within the prison’s iron gates, or if they escape that, it 
will surely bring them to degradation and misery. 

Since emerging from the living grave, where I was 
buried half a generation, in going about our cities I see 
thousands en route tbward a future which my experience 
enables me to predict — the work-house, the jail, the felon’s 
cell, the convict’s, drunkard’s, or the pauper’s grave. 

Do you wish to be known as a “ good fellow,” and to 
become a “ general favorite ” ? 

I have known many who succeeded for a time by squan¬ 
dering their salaries, but these usually end in the poor-house 
or prison. 

0, young man! if you cannot answer an emphatic “ yes ” 
in questioning every act of your life,— “ Is this right ? Should 
I wish another to act thus toward me?” — then it is you to 
whom these lines are addressed. May my wrecked life, as 
detailed in “ Forging his Chains,” lead you to pause and 
reflect. Do not say it is too late. Have I not proved it 
possible to found an honorable future on the ruins of the 
past ? Go thou and do likewise. Though the outlook may be 
gloomy, persevere in the right, and success will be yours at 
last. Never despair. 

To young men I proclaim — watch yourselves; prove 
worthy of trust; be pure minded ; act with wisdom ; be true 
to manhood ; true to your heritage; faithful to honor and 
your country; thoroughly honest in every fibre of your being, 
and you will attain the true aim of life — happiness. 

Having enlightened the reader regarding the dramatis 
'personae in the tragedy to follow, I now resume the thread 
of my narrative by introducing my brother Austin on the 
scene. He having desired to accompany me to England, I 
finally concluded to take him along, as an outsider, in case 
I should be arrested and exigencies arise whereby his assist- 

































































































WHAT WILL HE 1)0 WITH IT?” 


137 


ance might be required. In pursuance of Engles’ plan, he, 
McDonald, Austin, and myself met on board the steamer — 
McDonald’s mother making a considerable journey to see him 
off, believing her son to be engaged in carrying on a large 
business in cotton. 

Soon after our arrival in London, Mac received an invita¬ 
tion to visit some relatives in the north of Ireland, with whom 
he was in correspondence, and invited Austin to accompany 
him, I being absent from London for three days. They were 
to start immediately, but Austin had £ 2,000 of my money in 
his pocket in bank-notes. Not liking to risk taking them 
along on the journey, it became a question as to how to dis¬ 
pose of them until his return from Ireland. Finally it 
occurred to him that on the way to the railway station he 
could call in and deposit it with his tailor, Mr. Edward Ham¬ 
ilton Green of No. 35 Saville Row, he having an appointment 
to call there to try on a new suit of clothes that morning. 

Upon the occasion of the trial, sixteen months later, the 
number of aliases used by us caused some comment, and in 
this connection I may as well show how some of them came 
to be used; though, as a matter of course, when men start 
out with the intention of taking part in crime they generally 
drop their right names and use aliases. For example, in my 
own case, I regret to say that I had become so used to aliases 
that their employment had become a matter of indifference, 
though in private matters I generally went in my right name; 
but frequently I would give another out of mere caprice, or a 
sudden freak. One of these “freaks” came about as follows: 
After my arrival in England, it was not long before I had 
occasion to offer in payment a £5 Bank of England note. 
The dealer handed it back, and asked me to put my name 
and address on the back of the note. “ But,” I replied, “ this 
note is payable to ‘bearer,’ and requires no endorsement.” 
However, the dealer insisted that he could not accept it unless 
I should endorse it. As such was not the custom in my own 
country., it looked to me like a piece of tom-foolery to require 


138 


A FIVE-POUND NOTE. 



The counterfeit plate. 


TOM-FOOLERY AND “ TOM NOODLE” 139 

that notes payable to the bearer should be endorsed. Sud¬ 
denly 1 seized a pen and scribbled on “ Tom Noodle, Thames 
Embankment,” or some other absurdity, and this was quite 
satisfactory to the shop-keeper. Occasionally, even when 
paying cash for an article in gold or silver, the shopman 
would ask for my name and address, with a result similar to 
the above. At the trial in the following year, the prosecution 
desiring to overwhelm us with quantity to make up for the 
lack of quality and exactitude of evidence, brought forward 
every shop-keeper to be found, from whom any of us had 
made purchases, in order to produce a worse impression by 
the number of aliases; and this sort of thing was carried so 
far that several witnesses made mistakes in identification, etc. 

Austin’s acquaintance with Mr. Green began in this wise: 
Soon after his arrival in England, on the 18th day of April, 
1872, he was sauntering along Saville Row, taking a general 
view of high life at the “ West End,” when his eye lighted on 
some cloth in a shop-window. He entered the place and 
found himself in the presence of Mr. Green. He ordered and 
paid for a suit, through some freak giving the name of F. A. 
Warren, No. 21 Enfield Road, where I was lodging. Now 
there is nothing more certain than that when this occurred 
there was no intention of using Mr. Green for any purpose 
beyond his legitimate business; yet the prosecution brought 
this circumstance in as a link in the alleged long-prepared 
scheme of fraud. 

The 4th of May following, on the way to the railway 
station, according to the plan mentioned at the beginning of 
this chapter, they had the cab stop at Mr. Green’s. After 
trying on the clothes, Austin asked him to keep £1,200 until 
his return from Ireland. “ Austin Bidwell said he had more 
money than he thought it prudent, to leave at his lodgings, 
and that it was about £2,000. I did not like to keep so large 
a sum, and recommended him to deposit it in some bank; 
adding that my bankers were close at hand. Austin Bidwell 
then accompanied me to the Western Branch of the Bank of 



WESTERN BRANCH. 

Upon being introduced to Mr. Fenwick, Warren (as I 
shall call Austin in this connection) asked Mr. Fenwick to 
give him a simple receipt for the <£1,200, which was the sum 
he wished to leave. Mr. Fenwick advised him to leave his 
signature and take a check-book, remarking that he would 
find it very convenient to be enabled to check for money 
wherever he happened to be. Warren declined accepting the 


14Q A DEPOSIT AT THE WESTERN BRANCH. 


England, where I kept an account, and I introduced him to 
the assistant manager, Mr. Fenwick.” The foregoing are 
Mr. Green’s own words at the trial, and he had “forgotten” 
a good deal which would have shown Austin’s disinclination 
to leave the money elsewhere, giving as the reason that he 
should return from Ireland in a few days; but behind this 
was the consciousness that he was known to Mr. Green as 
Warren, and in case of an introduction to the bank it must 
necessarily be in that name. 















THE “ WARREN ” BANK ACCOUNT. 


141 


offer, on the ground that he had no use at that time for a 
bank account, and repeating that he should want the money 
on his return from Ireland. This was quite true, as I had 
already matured my plans to go to Rio Janeiro, not having 
the remotest idea of any opening in England for a “ specula¬ 
tion.” Mr. Fenwick gave further reasons why it would be 
better to open account with the money than to leave it other¬ 
wise, and finally, as McDonald was waiting, he acceded to the 
proposition, and started for Ireland with him. 

I had no knowledge of all this until their return, three 
or four days later, and I was greatly surprised when I was 
told about the Warren account with the Bank of England. 
Indeed, when it was first alluded to I paid no attention, 
thinking, as I had a good right to do, that they were endeav¬ 
oring to “take a rise” out of me. Not till the bank and 
check books were produced did I give their incredible story 
any credit. Austin asserted that when going to the bank 
with Mr. Green, he had no idea that it was to the Bank of 
England. At all events, after the matter had been communi¬ 
cated to me and duly considered, I could not perceive any 
benefit to be derived from a continuance of the account in a 
false name, and as before said, I had decided to go to Rio 
Janeiro, expecting to make use of my capital there, and then 
go home without returning to England. For this reason, I 
directed “Warren” to withdraw the money and close the 
account. 

Within a week of his return from Ireland he called at the 
bank for that purpose. Now mark what passed. It is a rule 
of the bank of England that every depositor must keep a bal¬ 
ance of at least three hundred pounds. Warren informed the 
manager of his intention to close the account as he was intend¬ 
ing to leave England. Upon hearing this the same arguments 
that were used to induce him to open the account were again 
brought forward to show him the advantages which would 
arise in case the account was continued. Warren said that he 
expected to employ all his money and could not leave the bal- 


142 


OFFICIAL LOOSENESS. 


ance required in order to keep the account open. After many 
pros and cons he concluded to leave the odd money — a bal¬ 
ance of thirty-nine pounds—at the same time assuring the 
manager that there was no probability of his having any occa¬ 
sion to make use of the account. A week later I sailed from 
Liverpool on board the Steamship Lucitania for Rio Janeiro, 
expecting to go around the coast of South America to San 
Francisco, and thence by rail to New York, and the bank of 
England account lay forgotten until the defeat of my South 
American plan and return to Europe the first of September 
following. 

At the trial the prosecution slurred over this and every 
other fact which would tend to show that the “ Great Bank 
Forgery ” was not a long planned scheme. Also, in pursu¬ 
ance of their theory, which they considered absolutely neces¬ 
sary to establish in order to clear the bank-managers from the 
charge of looseness in conducting business, the witnesses from 
the bank at the trial, on being pressed on these points, had 
“ forgotten ” or could only say to “ the best of their belief,” 
and so on. By bringing to bear their more than imperial 
power, unbounded influence, and the expenditure of $350,000, 
they succeeded in “ proving ” that we had been working and 
preparing the scheme during more than a year before the 
possibility of such a fraud had ever entered our heads. The 
success of the prosecution on that point was one of the chief 
causes which got us life sentences, instead of the ten years or 
less, usual in cases of forgery. It may be that I deserved 
even so severe a sentence as that, but surely some of the others 
—well, I refrain, leaving the reader to judge for himself. 

To sum up the matter: The bank-books will corroborate 
my statement regarding the small balance lying a long time 
without additional deposits. The eagerness shown to have 
“ Warren ” open the account in the first instance, and the break¬ 
ing of a bank of England rule in permitting the account to 
remain open with one-eighth of the required balance—no busi¬ 
ness being transacted during three months or more — at the 


A GOOD SIIO WING. 


143 


time filled me with surprise, and I can now account for it 
only on the supposition that the Western Branch had not been 
long established, and that the manager, or h : s representative, 
wished to increase the business as much as possible in order 
to make a good showing at the head office. 



B^NK OF ENGLAND SCENE.-VISITOR HOLDING £ 1 , 000,000 ($ 5 , 000 , 000 ) 

BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES. 















































Chapter XIV. 


BORDEAUX, MARSEILLES, AND LYONS “DONATE” $ 50 , 000 — A BAD QUARTER OF 
AN HOUR — EGGS AND PEASANT WOMEN—“SWEETS TO THE SWEET” — A 
MYSTERIOUS STRANGER DISAPPEARS AMONG THE TOMBS — REUNION IN LONDON 
— COWARDICE OR “PRUDENCE” OF GEORGE ENGLES. 


EFORE leaving New York, Engles had come into pos- 



_D session of several letters of credit issued by the Bank 
of North Wales, Liverpool, which had been picked from the 
pocket of an English traveler while getting on a train in 
Jersey City. These the thief had discovered were worthless 
to him, and as there are threads of intercommunication run¬ 
ning through all the different classes of criminals, it was 
surmised that though the papers were valueless to an ordinary 
thief, the opposite might be the case with a forger. We pro¬ 
ceeded to make use of them in the subsequent fraudulent 
operations by which French bankers were victimized. I 
purchased a circular letter of credit from the London and 
Westminster Bank, one of the largest banking institutions at 
that time in Great Britain, the Bank of England excepted, 
and about the only one which did not require any reference 
regarding the above purchase. I next procured lithographed 
letter heads which were facsimiles of those in use at the 
London and Westminster Bank. In the letter of credit was 
a list of the bank’s correspondents throughout the world, so 
that the traveler might get the notes which were attached to 
his letter turned into the currency of whatever country he 
happened to be in. On the lithographed letter-sheets men¬ 
tioned above were written letters of introduction addressed 
(say) Messrs. Smith & Co., Bordeaux; Brune & Co., Mar¬ 
seilles ; Blank & Co., Lyons ; all reading as follows: 




THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR SIDNEY WATERLOW, 
Lord Mayor of London in 1873 ; in official costume. 
















A TRIP TO FRANCE. 


145 


[Printed letter heading.] 

London and Westminster Bank, 
London, March 22, 1872. 
Messrs. Smith & Co., Bordeaux, France: 

Gentlemen, — A valued customer of ours, Mr. Thomas Hooker, 
is about to visit your city. Mr. Hooker holds our circular letter of 
credit, also special letters of credit issued by the Bank of North 
Wales. We shall take pleasure in honoring any drafts which he 
may have occasion to draw against these. Whatever you may find 
it convenient to do in forwarding his business affairs, or contributing 
to his enjoyment, will, as occasion offers, be cordially reciprocated. 

I remain, gentlemen, very sincerely, 

(say) Lewis Smith, 

Manager London and Westminster Bank. 

I have forgotten the names given, and make x use of any 
others by way of illustration. These letters were mailed in 
London, envelopes sealed with wax, and stamped in exact 
imitation of those sent out by the bank. The day they were 
mailed I went alone to France, having in my possession the 
genuine circular letter of credit with notes attached, issued 
by the London and Westminster Bank, and three false letters 
of credit purporting to be issued by the North Wales Bank, 
for about three thousand pounds each. All these documents 
had been written by George Engles. 

Crossing the channel from Dover to Calais, the small, 
black, side-wheel steamer — a pitching, rollicking, little mon¬ 
ster— seemed to enjoy all the discomforts of the passengers 
aboard. In due time I arrived at Paris, and without delay 
took the train for Bordeaux. 

Before leaving London, letters were posted to Thomas 
Hooker, in care of the firms I intended to victimize in the 
three cities named. Therefore, on arriving at Bordeaux, I 
called on Smith & Co., and inquired if there were letters for 
me. They at once gave me the one mailed to myself, which 
had come in the same mail with one for their firm purporting 
to be from the London and Westminster Bank. The receipt of 
10 



146 


MR. HOOKER ” WELL RECEIVED. 


my letter satisfied me that Smith & Co. had received theirs, 
which must naturally place me very high in their estimation. 
During my criminal career I never could avoid experiencing 
a certain qualm, when taking advantage of the confidence 
placed in me by gentlemen who received me courteously 
and with marked attention. But the thirst for riches, once 
implanted, will lead any man to unthought-of depths of 
infamy. As soon as these gentlemen were aware that I was 
“ Mr. Hooker,” they lavished every attention upon me — 
invited me to dinner, and a drive through the city afterward. 
I thanked them, and explained that I was obliged to decline, 
as my agent was waiting for me at Bayonne, where I had 
purchased some real estate; and having been recommended 
to their firm, I should feel obliged if they would cash my 
draft for two thousand pounds, and endorse it on my letter of 
credit (handing over one on the North Wales Bank). Mr. 
Smith replied that it was the custom of the French bankers 
to require twenty-four hours’ notice before drawing a check, 
and asked me if the next day would not answer. “ We shall 
be happy to assist you,” said he, “ in passing the time pleas¬ 
antly.” This was a new custom to me, but I answered 
instantly, expressing regret that the nature of my business 
precluded delay, it being necessary that I should reach 
Bayonne that night. “ I suppose,” continued I, “ that your 
bankers will not mind your checking out a small sum without 
the usual notice. However, if it occasions any embarrass¬ 
ment or inconvenience, I can easily procure the money else¬ 
where.” One of the partners replied that their bank would 
without doubt honor their check, and the matter should be 
attended to at once. I sat down for a half hour, conversing 
on a variety of topics. Of course this was a most trying 
period to me; the least show of haste or anxiety might 
have betrayed me to those lynx-eyed, experienced men of 
business. In the midst of our conversation, an undercurrent 
of thought kept running through my mind, thus: “ Who 
knows but they have sent a dispatch to the London and 



IN MARSEILLES. 


147 


Westminster Bank, merely as a matter of business precau¬ 
tion, and that they are delaying me to get a reply ? In that 
case, I shall have a good opportunity to learn the pure French 
accent, while passing my days in the Bagnio at Toulon.” 
At last, however, the amount was paid over to me in French 
bank-notes., I deliberately counted them, and took leave, 
lighter in mind, and heavier in purse by fifty thousand 
francs. 

I had arranged with Engles (whose merits for a criminal 
calling in the way of cowardice were described in a former 
chapter) to go every morning to the Queen’s Hotel, London, 
for letters which I should send addressed to “ H. Cowper.” 

After receiving the money, I enclosed it in a large envel¬ 
ope, addressing it to Cowper, London. I also wrote on the 
envelope: “Echantillions du papier” (i.e., samples of paper), 
after which I posted it at the post-office. 

As I wished to reduce the risk as much as possible (the 
train for Marseilles not leaving for three hours), I took a 
carriage and told the driver to carry me towards the next 
station on the route to that city. After we were fairly out in 
the country, I got outside and sat with the driver, discoursing 
with him about the country we were driving through, arriving 
in the village about half an hour before the train from Bor¬ 
deaux was due. I dismissed my driver at a small village 
cabaret or tavern, walked to the station, got aboard the train, 
and early the next morning was in Marseilles. I breakfasted 
at the Hotel d’ Europe, and looked over the papers to see if 
the Bordeaux fraud had been discovered. As I could see no 
indication of it, about 10 a . m . I took a carriage and went to 
call on Messrs. Brune & Co. 

Here, as before, I found a letter for Mr. Hooker, which 
assured me that they had received the bogus one addressed to 
themselves, consequently every thing looked clear for the 
fresh fraud contemplated. 

On making myself known I was, as usual, received with 
the utmost courtesy, began to talk business, and one of the 


148 


TERRORS OF A GUILTY CONSCIENCE. 


firm got into my carriage and rode with me to his bank to 
effect the sale of my draft on London for the sum of £2,500. 
Arriving at the bank I took a seat in the front office, while Mr. 
Brune went into the manager’s room to introduce the transac¬ 
tion ; the clerks eyed me as I thought suspiciously, but doubt¬ 
less only curiously, because they perceived I was a foreigner. 
Another thing which I noticed sent a shiver through me. 
After Mr. Brune had been a few minutes in the manager’s 
room, the bank porter stepped to the outer door, closed and 
locked it. It being but 12 o’clock, I imagined the precau¬ 
tionary measure must be due to my presence. “The Bor¬ 
deaux affair is discovered and has been telegraphed all over 
France,” was my first thought; “all is over with me. I am a 
candidate for a French prison, sure. My poor wife! My poor 
children ! Alas ! what a fool have I been ! ” 

These and a thousand other thoughts flashed through my 
mind during the quarter of an hour preceding Mr. Brune’s 
reappearance with his hands full of bank-notes. I could 
hardly believe my eyes. I had suppressed all signs of the 
internal hurricane which raged during those prolonged mo¬ 
ments of suspense. 

Now the revulsion of feeling was so great that I nearly 
fainted. However, by prodigious mental effort, I recovered 
my self-possession and effectually masked all inward con¬ 
vulsions. 

Mr. Brune placed in my hands sixty-two thousand francs, 
in notes of the Bank of France, and we then descended to the 
carriage and drove to my hotel, where, after mutual express¬ 
ions of esteem, I, a base swindler, separated forever from a 
victimized and honest man. I paid my bill at the hotel and 
at once made preparations to start for Lyons, which was to 
be the next and last scene of my operations in France. 

As my train did not leave for three hours, I got into a 
carriage at some distance from the hotel and was driven 
towards the next station, located on the beautiful bay a few 
miles from Marseilles. 



A DISPATCH TO LYONS. 


149 


After driving along the shore of the bay for some miles I 
remember we met two women, dressed in the quaint costume 
common to that part of the country, each carrying a basket 
of eggs. I stopped the carriage and endeavored to enter into 
conversation with the pair, but could not understand a word of 
their patois. I then took a couple of eggs, handed out a silver 
franc piece, and drove on, leaving two astonished women 
standing in the road, gazing alternately at the piece of money 
and at the back of my carriage. Arriving at the station I 
found it would be an hour and a half to train time, and driv¬ 
ing to a hotel on the shore, I ordered dinner to be served in 
the upper room of a two story tower overlooking the bay, with 
Marseilles in the distance. After dining I strolled along the 
beach, looking at some queer fish, not found north of the 
Mediterranean, their colors vying in brilliancy with the 
plumage of tropical birds. Returning to the station I took a 
ticket for Lyons, stopping off at Arles about sunset, as I 
wished to see the ampitheatre and other relics of the Roman 
occupation. 

I sent a dispatch to Lyons addressed to myself (Hooker), 
care of Messrs. Blank & Co., as follows: 

“T. Hooker: Bring sixty thousand francs to Arles at once, as 
I have completed the purchase. C. E. Hooker. 

It will be seen what use I made of this dispatch. I re¬ 
mained in Arles till midnight, then took the train arriving in 
Lyons at nine the next morning. Repairing to the Hotel-de- 
Lyons I had breakfast, and on looking over the papers, 
became satisfied that as yet no discovery had been made. 
Therefore I resolved to carry out my third and last financial 
enterprise, and then return to London with all speed. 

I called a carriage and drove at once to the establishment 
of Messrs. Blank & Co. Here I found a letter from London 
and the dispatch from Arles. I sat near the desk convers¬ 
ing with the head of the firm as these were handed me. I 
opened the letter and found nothing but a blank sheet of 


150 


BACK TO PARIS. 


paper, having forgotten that one of them had thus been sent. 
I saw the merchant’s eye on it, and remarked in an explana¬ 
tory way, “ I see, it is written with sympathetic ink,” and put 
it in my pocket. I then opened the dispatch sent from Arles, 
and after reading, handed it to him saying: “ I see that I 
shall have use for sixty thousand francs, and must ask you to 
cash a draft on my letter of credit for that amount.” He 
immediately stepped to the safe, took out a bundle of one 
thousand franc notes, and counting out sixty gave them to me, 
I, of course, signing a draft on the London and Westminster 
bank, and having the amount endorsed on my forged letter of 
credit. 

As it was almost certain that the Bordeaux fraud would 
soon be discovered, I determined, now that my dishonor¬ 
able work was completed, to attempt an immediate escape 
from France, by way of Paris and Calais. I did not, there¬ 
fore, take the train direct from Lyons to Paris, but engaged 
a carriage and drove back to a junction toward Marseilles. 
Here I took a train which intersects farther to the northward 
with another road leading through Lyons to Paris. After 
going the roundabout route above described, I was back at 
the Lyons station at 9 p. M., in a train bound for Paris, where 
I arrived without further incident. 

The next morning (Sunday) as I left the railway station, 
I thought detectives were watching me, but in all probability 
it was only the imagination of a guilty conscience. I was then 
wearing a full beard, and as a precautionary measure I that 
morning had all shaved off save the mustache. Not daring 
to leave Paris on the through express, which started at three 
o’clock p. M., nor to purchase a ticket to either Calais or Lon¬ 
don direct, I went to the station, and took the noon accommo¬ 
dation train which went no farther toward Calais than Arras, 
a town some thirty miles from Paris. I arrived there about 
one P. M. 

As it would be about three hours before the express train 
was due I went to a small hotel and ordered dinner. To while 


“MERCI, MONSIEUR! 


151 


away the time I took a stroll through the main street, where 
were many mothers and nurses with children, nice black-eyed 
French babies. As I was always a devoted lover of children 
and other small creatures, I stepped into a shop and bought a 
package of confectionary, which I distributed among the little 
ones and their smiling nurses, receiving therefor, almost invari¬ 
ably, the grateful exclamation, “ Merci, Monsieur! ” I gave 
some to children eight and ten years old, a crowd of whom 
soon gathered about me. Perceiving that I was attracting too 
much attention, it was clear that I must geWrid of my young 
friends as soon as possible, or the police would also be 
attracted, and their presence might lead to unpleasant results 
in case the frauds had been discovered and enquiry was being 
made for an “ Englishman.” Purchasing a second supply of 
candies I hastily gave them out, and with a “ Restez ici mes 
enfants” I passed through them and continued my walk up 
the street. Quite a number followed at a respectful distance, 
and I was cogitating how to double on them when I came to 
the gateway of the town cemetery, through which I hastily 
entered. The children remained outside and watched me as 
I walked up the slope and disappeared. At the rear of the 
cemetery I observed an old man at work in the adjoining 
field. I climbed upon the stone wall, which instantly crum¬ 
bled away, and I was landed on the old Frenchman’s domain 
without leave, amidst a pile of stones. Startled by the racket, 
he looked up from his digging, and, seeing a stranger uprising 
from the ruins of the fence, began consigning him to “ le dia¬ 
lled with a volley of vigorous French expletives delivered in 
peasant patois. I listened to him much amused for a moment, 
and then held up a five franc piece. As soon as he beheld it 
a wondrous change came over him. He eagerly seized the 
silver and straightway showed me to a lane which led almost 
directly to the railway station. I purchased a ticket for 
Calais and took the Sunday afternoon express, arriving in 
London the next morning, after an absence of but four days. 
The money procured in Lyons I had with me, but the one 


152 


ENGLES' PUSILLANIMITY. 


hundred thousand francs sent by mail without registry I was 
uneasy about. I therefore hastened to find my companions to 
ascertain if the letters had been received at the Queen’s hotel. 

Engles had been left in London to secure the money-letters 
at the hotel as fast as they should arrive. But he had been 
afraid to go there and inquire for them, and when I reached 
London, I was thunderstruck at his rather too extreme cau¬ 
tion. I immediately took a valuable hand-bag filled with 
linen, etc., went direct to the hotel, registered the name to 
which I had addressed the letters, asked if there were any 
letters for me, and they were all handed over forthwith. I 
had the lady clerk assign me a room, and left my bag. I then 
walked leisurely away, and have never been back for the bag 
to this day. The principal reason for leaving Engles in Lon¬ 
don was to give him an unobstructed opportunity to exchange 
the foreign bank-notes into English gold before my first 
bogus draft should arrive, for as soon as the detectives were 
put on the fraud, they would go at once to all the London 
Exchanges and broker’s offices to watch for any one who 
offered large sums in French notes. Owing to his pusillanim¬ 
ity I had been obliged, after returning from my trip to France, 
to undergo the additional hazard of calling at the Queen’s 
hotel. Engles having thus failed to act his part, we were 
encumbered with a large amount of French paper and a bag 
of foreign gold which could not be offered safely for exchange 
in London. I therefore decided that Engles should go to 
Paris, accompanied by one who had played no part in the 
fraud, as an assistant, leaving myself, the guiltier one, safe in 
London. They accordingly left at once, Engles taking the 
bag of gold, and his companion the notes. The latter after¬ 
wards informed me that, during the whole journey from Lon¬ 
don to Paris, Engles sat with the bag of gold under his coat, 
ready in case of any imagined emergency to throw it out of 
the window or overboard while crossing the channel. After 
their arrival in Paris the assistant was obliged to do the whole 
business, not only of selling the gold but also the notes. 


A “ BRILLIANT” OPERATION ENDED. 


153 


While he was in different brokers’ offices—for he did not dare 
to offer a large amount in one place — Engles stood at a distance, 
ready to run away at the slightest indication of danger. How¬ 
ever, they arrived safely back in London with the proceeds of 
my three days’ nefarious work in France. 

And thus ended—viewed from the forger’s standpoint — 
perhaps as brilliant a “ solo ” operation as has been recorded 
in the annals of crime. 




Chapter XV. 


“THE TERROR OF WALL STREET” RETURNS TO NEW YORK — TAKES PARTIES OF 
FORGERS TO ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT — HE IS ARRESTED—FRUITLESS 
EXAMPLES — STARTS A FARO BANK — FIGHTS STRANGE “TIGERS” — HIS PRE¬ 
MATURE DEATH IN 1886 — VOYAGE TO RIO JANEIRO — THE LADY OF THE LUCI- 
TANIA — A SWEDISH COLONEL’S PARTY OF ENGLISH ENGINEERS—A BIBULOUS 
CHAPLAIN — $50,000 ON BOGUS LETTERS OF CREDIT — MR. SOLOMONS — AN 
ANXIOUS TIME — MUNSON IN A “ FIX ” — STRATEGIC MOVEMENTS TO EXTRICATE 
HIM. 

E NGLES remained in London about a week, preparing 
forged papers for me to use on the trip to South 
America, which was already decided upon, and then took 
steamer for New York from Liverpool. On the same day I 
sailed for Rio Janeiro, accompanied by one known in this 
adventure as Munson. Since my return from England I have 
heard some particulars of Engles’ life and death since we 
parted in Liverpool. 

In 18T9 Engles sent a party to England who took over 
drafts forged by him with which they procured $40,000 from 
Seligman & Co., bankers, London. Our party were sentenced 
for life, as a warning that Engles and Wilkes should not 
attempt their operations in England. But I have ascertained 
that during the time I was in prison, not a year elapsed that 
one or the other did not either go over or send a gang with 
forged paper, prepared by them in New York. 

In 1880, in company with Wilkes, Hamilton, and Burns, 
Engles went to Italy, where all but himself were arrested, 
Burns killing himself while in prison. 

Hamilton and he were chained to the wall on opposite 
sides of the room. Wilkes’ confession plunged Burns into a 

( 154 ) 





KILLED BY A PRAYER-BOOK. I 55 

state of desperation. He seized upon a prayer-book, lay down, 
and bending the covers back he placed two corners each side 
of his wind-pipe and pressed so hard that he choked to 
death. 

Hamilton from his side of the room gazed upon this fear¬ 
ful scene, at first too horror-stricken to act, then began 
screaming and shouting madly for assistance, but none of the 
Italian jailers were aroused by his frantic efforts until after 
his friend had accomplished his purpose. 

And we were incarcerated for life as a warning to prevent 
forgers from coming into Europe! I think that I have 
remarked elsewhere that the imprisonment of one person sel¬ 
dom has any 46 warning” effect upon others,because no person 
takes part in a crime committed to obtain money, unless he 
feels sure that his arrangements are such as to secure his 
escape — despite all examples to the contrary, each one 
believes himself the one who will not be caught. 

As stated, Engles escaped from Italy and was arrested, 
but for want of proof the extradition case against him failed, 
and United States Commissioner Osborne discharged him 
from custody. He had, however, lain in the Ludlow Street 
jail over twelve months, during which time the case against 
him was in progress. In 1884 he made up another party, 
going to England himself, and obtained a large sum on forged 
paper. 

On every occasion some of the men were arrested and 
imprisoned for presenting the forged paper. While in prison, 
at different times, I had word sent to me by prisoners that 
they were in for presenting forged paper, and that they had 
come to England with Engles. Two of them were Hebrews 
of respectable birth, natives of Poland, who had lived in New 
York for several years. When arrested they were sharp 
enough not to let it transpire that they were from America, 
in consequence of which they got off with five years’ penal 
servitude, instead of the fifteen, or life sentences, which would 
have been given them had it been known that Engles had 
brought them to England. 


156 


ONE “TIGER” INSUFFICIENT. 


In the relation of Engles’ European operations, I have some¬ 
what anticipated my story, and will resume it with his arrival 
in New York in 1872, and his establishment of a faro bank in 
that city. His peculiar reputation among the “ crooks ” of 
America brought to his place many people ambitious to fight 
the “ tiger.” He would soon have become a second John 
Morrissey, had he only been able to restrain his own pro¬ 
pensity for drink and gaming; but these habits had now 
become so firmly fixed that he was no longer master of him¬ 
self. He had a great many “ ropers-in ” — those who lounge 
about the hotels, make acquaintance with merchants and 
other visitors from the country, and entice them into gam¬ 
bling-houses and other dens. A “roper-in” is a well-dressed, 
plausible-speaking man, one who has the faculty of conveying 
to strangers the idea that he is one of themselves; and is 
paid one-half of all the money he can, “ by hook or by crook,” 
induce his dupe to disburse at the various dens visited. Such 
gaming-houses as the one in question pay these pimps one- 
half of all the money “ won ” from their prot6g£s, they acting 
as mentors and advisers to their confiding dupes. In conse¬ 
quence of this mutually profitable arrangement, Engles gained 
a great deal in the way of “winnings” at his own faro 
bank, but soon tired of playing, in effect, against himself, 
for whether losing or winning, there was no risk of ultimate 
loss. Therefore, he could feel none of that peculiar excite¬ 
ment, kept at fever heat, which had become necessary, and 
which he had experienced while throwing his ill-gotten 
gold lavishly into the jaws of some other gambler’s “ tiger,” 
especially those at that time on exhibition at the splendid 
establishments of the “Honorable” John Morrissey in New 
York, and at Saratoga during the fashionable season. At 
these were lost most of the large sums procured by the ex¬ 
tensive gold forgeries in Wall Street and elsewhere. Engles 
was the only gambler with whom I ever had anything to do, 
as I considered it especially dangerous to do any “ crooked ” 
business with the assistance of either gamesters or drunkards. 


IN “ THE BAY OF BISCAY , 0.” 757 

It was now the same as it had been with the large sums 
obtained by forgery, for all the booty raked in at his own 
establishment was immediately staked and lost elsewhere, 
regardless of the claims of an affectionate wife and children. 
His taste for brandy had so grown upon him that he required, 
more and more, the stimulus afforded by that potent fluid, and 
was constantly under its influence. His' originally strong 
constitution succumbed at last to the long-continued strain, 
and he died miserably, after a year’s sickness, in 1886, leav¬ 
ing his family impoverished. His wife is carrying on a small 
business near New York, and endeavoring to bring up her 
children to become respectable members of society. 

The reader’s attention is now directed to the steamship 
Lucitania , of the Pacific Mail Line, ploughing the waters of 
the rough “ Bay of Biscay, 0.” While she is rapidly approach¬ 
ing the coast of France, I will relate what preparations were 
made in London to carry out the object of our voyage. While 
“Warren’’was settling up his account, though leaving a 
small balance at the Bank of England as previously described, 
Engles had busied himself in completing the forged letters of 
credit that I was to take with me on our voyage. These pur¬ 
ported to be drawn and issued by the London and West¬ 
minster Bank. In filling them out he had signed only the 
manager’s name, but as I had noticed that in the “ circular ” 
letters of credit issued by that bank, both that and the sub- 
manager’s name were signed, I argued that the same should 
be done in regard to the “ special ” letters. But Engles 
insisted that one name was sufficient, because, as he stated, he 
had seen several genuine letters of credit of the same descrip¬ 
tion, which had been issued by the Bank of North Wales, 
Liverpool, with the manager’s name only. Nothing could 
induce him to put on both names, although he might have 
done it in a few minutes, and he being an “ old head ” in the 
business I was reluctantly obliged to give way. As will be 
seen in the sequel, the want of acumen shown in this instance 
by my usually astute confederate, saved the good bankers of 


158 AN affectionate exhibition. 

South America, in all probability, a million of dollars, defeat¬ 
ing my project at the outset, and causing us to return to 
England contrary to our wishes or expectations. It may be 
curious to note here, as an instance of how slight a thing may 
change the whole future life of a man, that this decision of 
Engles not to spend five minutes in putting on another name, 
led to the discovery of the plan to make use of the Bank of 
England account, and all that followed. And this, besides 
the narrow escape (about to be recounted) from passing our 
lives on the island of Fernando da Noronha, which lies in the 
Atlantic about three hundred miles off the coast of Brazil. 
On this island is located the one great convict establishment 
to which are transported the convicts of the Brazilian Empire. 
Both on the voyage and return the steamer passed within 
sight of it, and on each occasion the view excited within me 
very curious feelings — in going, the thought that, despite my 
precautions, we might find the end of our journey there — and in 
returning, the thought of our narrow escape from being there 
instead of on board the steamer in the enjoyment of all 
luxuries. 

To resume — the good steamship laxcitania rapidly neared 
the mouth of the Garonne, or Gironde, on an estuary of 
which is situated the old city of Bordeaux. Arriving there, 
she lay at anchor for some hours, taking in and discharging 
freight, and receiving emigrants for various parts of South 
America. When the steamer was about to leave, it was a 
strange and rather comical sight to witness the farewells and 
leave-takings from the crowds of friends who had come to see 
them off. The customary performance appeared to me so 
peculiar that I will describe it as well as I can after so many 
years: Two men standing face to face, one clasps the other 
round the body, the other passive, then leaning back lifts the 
party clear off the ground once, twice, or thrice, probably 
according to the degree of relationship or amount of affection ; 
then the operation is reversed, the embraced becoming the 
embracer. In some cases the ceremonial is repeated the sec- 


LISBON. 159 

ond or third time, neither kissing nor crying being the fashion 
there. 

The next morning we were off the coast of Spain watching 
the silvery gleam from the ice-clad peaks of the Pyrenees — at 
least those of us who were not engaged in the more disagree¬ 
able employment of discharging their debt to Father Neptune. 
However, by the time the ship arrived at the small port of 
Santander the passengers were mostly recovering from the 
mal de mer occasioned by the rough water in the Bay of Bis¬ 
cay. While leaving this tiny land-locked harbor, one of the 
propeller blades touched the rocky bottom and broke short off, 
but she continued her voyage with undiminished speed, and 
within three days was steaming up the Tagus to Lisbon. 
Here the passengers who wished to avail themselves of the 
opportunity, had a few hours on shore, then we were off for 
the long diagonal run across the Atlantic, unbroken save by a 
call at one of the Canaries. 

“ The Lady of the Lucitania ,” as she was called, because 
there was no other lady among the saloon passengers, was the 

wife of Captain-of the British army, who was going 

out for a few months’ hunting on the pampas of Buenos Ayres, 
and of course accompanied by numerous dogs, with an assort¬ 
ment of guns. There was also a chaplain in the British 
navy who was going out to join his ship at Valparaiso. A 
strange character was he; being a big, burly man, about 28 
years of age, and the most inveterate champagne-drinker on 
board, and that is saying a good deal. Whenever he met any 
of the “ jolly ” ones of the saloon passengers it was “ Come, 
old fellow, will you toss me for a bottle of phizz ? ” as he called 
his favorite wine, and he had no lack of accepters. The 
majority in the saloon consisted of a party of fifteen young 
Englishmen, civil engineers, who were going under the leader¬ 
ship of a Swedish colonel to survey, for the Brazilian govern¬ 
ment, a railway line across the southern part of Brazil, from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific. In all there were twenty-five 
young men, full of frolic and fun, who made matters rather 



160 




CROSSING THE “LINE” 

lively about the afterpart of the ship. They went in for 
every thing from which any fun could be extracted. At the 
equinoctial line they roped in the “ greenhorns,” of whom I 
was one, to look through the field-glasses at the line, and 
having fastened a hair across the field of view, of course we 
could all see it plainly. Father Neptune came on board, and 
those of the crew who had never crossed the Equator were 
hunted out of their hiding places, dragged on deck, lathered 
with a whitewash brush dipped in old grease, shaved with a 
lath-razor, and then tumbled unceremoniously backward into 
a cask of water. 



THE “ SUGAR-LOAF” IN THE BAY OF RIO. 


During the whole voyage I laughed, and increased in 
weight twenty pounds. After a prosperous voyage of three 
weeks we arrived within sight of the famous “ Sugar- 
Loaf,” and were duly disembarked at the custom-house, 









A SQUARE FOOT OF MONEY. 


161 


where I found it indispensable to use a little “ palm-grease ” 
in order to get my baggage through that institution without a 
long waiting. The evening succeeding our arrival a banquet 
was given at the Hotel d’Europe, which was attended by 
most of the saloon passengers, including “ The Lady of the 
Lucitania .” 

The next morning Munson called at a banking-house, pre¬ 
sented his false letters of introduction, and was well received. 
He immediately commenced business — showed them a letter 
of credit, and making out a bill of exchange, drawn on the 
London and Westminster Bank, he sold it to the banker, and 
drew ten thousand pounds in the currency of the country, 
leaving the balance on deposit as the nucleus of a bank 
account. I had been waiting outside, and saw him come out 
with the currency — a package a foot square—under his arm. 
At some distance from the bank he gave me the package, and 
I took it at once to an exchange office and purchased English 
sovereigns for the whole amount — about $50,000. On the 
voyage, Munson and myself had acted as strangers to each 
other, and now we stayed at different hotels, being careful 
not to be seen together, meeting in the parks or other 
public places, though in isolated parts of them. Having 
bogus letters to other bankers in Rio, this first easy success 
satisfied us that we could obtain all the money — say two or 
three hundred thousand dollars — that we should think it 
prudent to ask for in that city. 

After the lapse of two days, Munson again called at the 
same bank and was immediately invited into the manager’s 
room and introduced to “ Mr. Solomons,” a Hebrew, who proved 
to be one of the leading brokers on the Rio Exchange. As 
before, I was waiting outside, and owing to the long time 
Munson was in the bank, I began to feel uneasy, and sur¬ 
mised that something was going wrong. At last he made 
his appearance, and I saw by his flushed face that he had 
been under a strain. Upon reaching a suitable place, he 
related to me the particulars of the interview. The danger 
11 


162 


MUNSON'S STORY. 


we were in no doubt tended to indelibly impress upon my 
memory Munson’s statement, which was in substance as 
follows: 

“The manager, after introducing me to Mr. Solomons, 
said that a short time previous a letter had been received 

from the London and Westminster Bank which stated that 

from that date all letters of credit issued by them would be 
signed both by the manager and sub-manager. He then said 
that the letter on which he had purchased my bill of exchange 
had but one name. The Hebrew broker sat all this time 
with his crafty eyes fixed upon me, as though he would 

read me through, and it required all my nerve to enable 

me to stand the situation without showing signs of uneasi¬ 
ness. I replied that really I could not say how the omission 
occurred, but I supposed it must have been accidental, and 
then told him I would look at my other letters and see if they 
were the same. Mr. Solomons said it was a very singular 
circumstance that an assistant bank manager should neglect 
to sign a special letter of credit, still he must have done so; 
but for his part he should not feel justified in purchasing bills 
on such letters. After some further conversation, the man¬ 
ager asked me if I had letters to other parties in Rio. 4 Cer¬ 
tainly,’ said I; ‘ I have letters to the English Bank, and to 

Messrs.- & Co., both of whom have doubtless had advices 

from their London correspondents regarding me, and I will 
ascertain at once whether I am to have the object of my long 
journey hampered by the neglect or oversight of the sub¬ 
manager.’ I then came away. The fact is, I am feeling 
very shaky; the Hebrew is a shrewd old codger, and the 
manager refused to purchase any more exchange on London 
on the pretext that he had all he could use. This is awful! 
I had a hot time of it, and no mistake! That Solomons is as 
sharp as a razor, and as suspicious as a boarding-house mis¬ 
tress. I think he is assured in his own mind that something 
is wrong. I am afraid it is all up, and I wish we were well 
out of this country.” 



A COUP DE GRACE ATTEMPTED. J03 

“ There can be no doubt about it,” I replied; “ and at this 
moment they are doubtless consulting as to what measures 
can be taken to secure the ten thousand pounds paid you 
until they can get advices from England. The cable is not 
yet completed, and they must wait the slow movement of the 
mail, which will take forty days. You informed him that 
you expected to remain in Brazil three months, and as it is 
known that no one can get out of the country without getting 
his passport vis^d at police headquarters, they will not 
arrest you for fear that after all it may be only a mistake, 
unless you attempt to leave Brazil. A bold step must be 
taken. Here are the other letters of credit; take this pen 
and write in the sub-manager’s name.” 

Although Munson was a skillful penman, he had never 
attempted to forge names himself, Engles having performed 
that delicate operation during the short time we had been in 
such business. The ordeal through which Munson had 
passed had made him nervous; therefore, though not a drink¬ 
ing man, I procured a glass of brandy, which he swallowed. 
In a few moments he began to write in the names, though 
with rather a shaky hand. When finished, I compared them 
with the genuine signature in my possession, and found it 
very shaky; but we were in for it, and I could see but one 
way out; therefore I selected the best, handed them to Mun¬ 
son, and said: 

“ It is not an hour since you left the bank. Take these 
letters back immediately, and show the manager both signa¬ 
tures, remarking at the same time that the second name must 
have been unintentionally omitted from the one on which you 
drew the ten thousand pounds. He cannot fathom that you 
could have forged the sub-manager’s name in so short a time. 
See if it does not prove a 4 poser.’ Though it may not wholly 
allay suspicion, it will give me time to make and execute a 
plan for getting you out of the country. Of that I am cer¬ 
tain. Rely on me, keep cool, and above all keep a stiff upper 
lip, and act up to the character you have assumed. Be sure 


164 


TROUBLE CLEARLY AHEAD. 


to offer them more exchange on London, as I wish to ascer¬ 
tain how they take the proposition; and if they decline to 
purchase, say that you will have to transfer your account to 
the English Bank of Rio.” 

Starting on his decisive errand, followed by me as before, 
he was not long in the bank, but reappeared empty-handed, 
no one following to “shadow” him. Upon meeting at the 
designated place, Munson informed me that the manager was 
evidently agreeably surprised when he was shown the letters 
with both signatures; nevertheless, he had refused to pur¬ 
chase any more exchange, but had transferred the endorse¬ 
ment from the letter that had but one signature to one with 
both. All this convinced me that his suspicion was fully 
aroused. It was therefore clear that our safety depended 
upon the invention of a plan by which I could get Munson 
out of Brazil, and at the same time convince the bank man¬ 
ager that he intended to remain. It must be a plan which 
would throw off any one attempting to watch his movements, 
and make it appear that he was still in the country until the 
steamer in which he sailed should have been at least twenty- 
four hours at sea. 

This plan, and how it was successfully executed, will be 
detailed in the following chapter. 



Chapter XVI. 


TECHNICALITIES OF BRAZILIAN LAW — IN A TIGHT SPOT — I RESOLVE ON A BOLD 
COUP—EFFICACY OF A SUITABLE “DOUCEUR”— A “ DOCTORED ” PASSPORT — 
A DETECTIVE ON TRAIL, WHO INGRATIATES HIMSELF INTO MUNSON’S CON¬ 
FIDENCE— MANEUVERS — THE DETECTIVE ON A “WILD GOOSE CHASE” — 
SAFELY ON BOARD — A DISTINGUISHED PARTY IN A ROWBOAT — A STERN CHASE 
— OFF AT LAST. 



HETHER the law remains the same as it was in 1872, 


V V I am unable to state; but at that time every person 
desiring to leave Brazil must be provided with a passport — 
if a foreigner, one from his own government — if a native, 
one from the Brazilian. When ready to start, he must take 
his passport to police headquarters and have it vis^d, then 
leave it with the ticket-agent where he buys his ticket. This 
agent, after ascertaining from the chief of police that the 
intending passenger is not “ wanted ” by the authorities, 
transmits the passport to the purser of the steamer, who, in 
turn, hands it to the owner after the ship is at sea. It will 
be seen that these regulations render it very difficult for any 
suspected person to leave Brazil by the regular channels of 
communication ; and if difficult for a native, how much more 
so for a stranger, ignorant of the country and its language, 
the Portuguese. French, Italian, or German, did well enough 
in the large towns, but the moment a fugitive who did not 
understand their language got into the country, he would 
stand a poor chance of getting far away from Rio. There¬ 
fore, I was obliged to abandon the project of going south to 
Buenos Ayres — a journey by land of fifteen hundred miles 
— or of crossing the continent to the Pacific by way of the 
Amazon. At last I determined on a bold coup to get Munson 


( 165 ) 



166 


THE “LIV1NGST0NIA: 


away on a steamer which was to leave on a certain day. 
Accordingly, I had an American (U. S.) passport filled in 
with the name Gilmore, by which I was known during the 
voyage from England, by the agent of the steamship line, 
and others in Rio. This I took to the police headquarters, 
and finding the anteroom crowded with people, I supposed I 
should be obliged to wait my turn; but presently the inter¬ 
preter came along, and, presumably, judging by my appear¬ 
ance that time was more valuable to me than a little money, 
he whispered in French: “ If you are in a hurry, you will 
save time by sending in a small 4 douceur ’ to the chief, or 
you may have to wait all day.” I took the hint and slipped 
into his ready palm a few rejs, with which he disappeared 
into the inner room. In a short time I was ushered in and 
my passport vis6d without my being troubled with an interro¬ 
gation. t Proceeding to the ticket-agent I delivered up the 
passport, receiving and paying for a saloon passage to Liver¬ 
pool. He recognized me as one of the party who had arrived 
a few days previously by the Lucitania , and expressed some 
surprise at my early return, it being the best part of the year 
for a sojourn in the tropics. I explained that having com¬ 
pleted my business, 1 was in a hurry to get back to my own 
country. My next move was. to walk along the water-front 
and find where row-boats with oarsmen were to be let. As 
these were to be had at several points, I selected the most 
obscure one toward the northern boundary of the city. Here 
I found a boat, and was rowed out to the steamship Living- 
stonia. I went on board and found the purser, to whom I 
showed my ticket, and asked him to assign me a state-room 
by myself. Having paid him the extra price required for the 
privilege of being the sole occupant, I received the key, took 
a good look around, that I might find the room again without 
the necessity of making inquiries, and left for the city, after 
informing the purser that I should remain on shore until the 
hour for sailing the next day. Upon meeting Munson I 
requested him to call at the bank and casually inform the 


SHADOWED .” 


167 


manager that he should start the next morning for S. Romao, 
a town in the interior of Brazil, to be absent a week. He was 
then to go to the Hotel d’Europe, pay his bill, at the same 
time stating that he was to leave Rio by the four o’clock train 
the next morning. As Munson had two trunks, and other 
impedimenta befitting a man of his pretensions, it was neces¬ 
sary to take a carriage to the station, which was nearly a 
mile distant. It would be unsafe to go in a carriage belong¬ 
ing to the hotel; therefore, he was to say that a friend would 
call for him. As it was still two hours to sunset, I suggested 
that after he had arranged matters, he should saunter out, 
walk about the streets until dark, then return to the hotel 
and be ready when I should call for him at three o’clock the 
next morning. 

After these arrangements we separated, I following to 
ascertain if he was being watched or shadowed by detectives. 
When he entered the hotel I remained within view of the 
entrance. It was not long before he reappeared and walked 
leisurely along the street, with gold-headed cane, and real 
diamonds flashing in the tropical sunlight. A few seconds 
later I saw another man come out, cross the street, and go 
in the same direction. I followed him, and was soon satisfied 
that he was keeping Munson in view. This sort of double 
hunt was kept up until dusk, when Munson returned to his 
hotel, unconscious that a moment later his “ shadow ” entered 
the place* Here was a “ stunner ” and no mistake, though 
it was no more than I had anticipated as among the possibil¬ 
ities ; still, I had indulged in the hope that the bank would 
rely entirely on the passport system, and take no further 
steps for a day or two, which was all the time required to 
carry out my plan. Though Munson had good nerve, it was 
already somewhat shaken, and surely the situation would 
have unnerved most men. Therefore, fearing that the cer¬ 
tain knowledge of imminent danger might still further 
confuse him and cause some false move, I determined 
to keep my discovery to myself. Leaving Munson and his 


168 


A DETECTIVE'S ‘‘ GALL.' 


“ shadow ” to their own devices at the hotel, I next proceeded 
to an obscure part of the town, and stopping at a small but 
respectable looking tavern, I engaged a room for the next 
day. I also engaged a carriage, with an English-speaking 
driver, to be in readiness at three o’clock the next morning 
— then returned to my own hotel for a few hours’ sleep. 
Promptly at the hour I was at the livery stable, where I 
found the carriage ready, and was driven to the Hotel 
d’Europe. Sending the driver up to the office on the second 
floor, Munson soon appeared and informed me that he had 
promised to take to the station a man who was stopping at 
the hotel. “ He is going to S. Romao by the same train,” 
continued Munson, “ and seems a good fellow, for I had a long 
talk with him last night.” Upon seeing signs of disapproval 
in my face, he explained: “ Well, you know, he said he could 
not get a carriage at so early an hour in the morning, and I 
thought it could do no harm to take him in, and he is waiting 
up stairs.” 

It would be difficult for the reader to imagine the effect of 
this surprising communication upon my mind, for it was clear 
enough that this was the very person who had been “ shadow¬ 
ing ” Munson the day before, and had skillfully ingratiated 
himself into his new friend’s confidence. I could but admire 
his unwonted “ cheek ” in asking a contemplated victim for a 
ride to the station. I said to Munson : “ What in the world can 
you be thinking of? Don’t you see you are blocking our 
whole plan? Go up and tell him your carriage is loaded 
down with luggage, and express your regrets that you can¬ 
not accommodate him.” 

This Munson was obliged to do, though with repugnance, 
it being against his nature to do anything that looked “ mean.” 
During this time the baggage was being placed in the carriage, 
and as soon as Munson had dismissed his “ passenger,” who 
for some reason, did not show himself to me, we started rap¬ 
idly for the station. On the way I requested him to avoid 
making any new friends until he should find himself well out 


CUTTING AN ACQUAINTANCE . 


169 


at sea. Said I, “It might be fatal to attract the attention 
of any one, or to let any one see you leave the train. Of 
course this new acquaintance of yours is only a countryman, 
but it is not possible to foresee what disaster the least mis¬ 
take or want of caution might originate. Now listen: if you 
will be guided entirely by me, you will be safe on the broad 
Atlantic to-night. You know,” I continued, “that these cars 
are on the English system, divided into compartments. You 
must go into the station, stand' near the ticket-office until 
your new acquaintance comes ; then observe if he buys a first- 
class ; if so, you take a second, and vice versa. Pay no atten¬ 
tion to him, and let him see you get into your compartment, 
but keep an eye on his movements. In case he comes to get 
in where you are, despite the different class of the tickets, tell 
him the compartment is engaged. Everything depends on how 
you carry yourself through the next twenty minutes. A sin¬ 
gle false step, a word too little or too much, will surely prove 
fatal to us both ! ” 

In accordance with our pre-arranged plan, I stopped the 
carriage opposite the station, it being still dark. Munson 
alighted, went straight inside, and in a few minutes saw his 
“passenger” come puffing in, nearly out of breath. Un¬ 
questionably supposing Munson’s baggage to be already on 
board the train, he purchased a ticket, and after seeing his 
intended victim enter a compartment, got into another himself 
just as the train began to move. This was the vital moment 
for which Munson had been waiting, and having previously 
unlocked with his master car-key the door opposite, he 
stepped off on that side, hastily crossed to the other platform 
of the dimly-lighted station, and made his way unnoticed into 
the street. While this was passing I sat in the carriage, and 
it was not many minutes before I had the satisfaction of see¬ 
ing Munson coming back to me. For the benefit of the driver 
we then had a dialogue somewhat as follows : 

“ It is too bad! Our friends have not arrived; what shall 
we do ? ” 


170 


THE BAGGAGE ABOARD. 


“ Well, I suppose we must go back to the hotel and wait 
for the afternoon train,” I answered. 

“ But I have paid my bill there,” said Munson, “ and do 
not care to go back.” 

“ Then,” I replied, “ meet me at the station, and I will look 
after the luggage.” 

In case they recovered the trail, the information obtained 
from the driver would cause confusion and delay sufficient, I 
hoped, to enable me to get Munson out of Bio. 

I then told the coachman to drive into the city. It was 
not yet daylight, but after a while I saw a sort of eating-house 
and tavern combined, and had the carriage halted there. 
Alighting, I entered, and said to the person in charge that I 
did not wish to disturb my friends at so early an hour, and 
would pay him for taking care of my baggage, as I wished to 
discharge the carriage. This offer was of course accepted, 
the baggage housed, and the carriage dismissed. In the 
meantime Munson was waiting for me in an appointed place 
not far away, where I joined him, and we went to the obscure 
tavern where the room had been engaged. 

So far my plan had been successful. Munson was hidden 
safely away before dawn, while at the same moment his very 
clever new friend was some miles distant on a “ wild goose 
chase ” into the interior. Arriving back at my hotel soon 
after daylight, I took a leisurely breakfast, aftei* which I sal¬ 
lied out and engaged two stalwart slave porters, whom I 
found, according to the custom of their class in Brazil, busily 
occupied in plaiting straw for hats while waiting for a job. 
Motioning them to follow me, I led the way to where Mun¬ 
son’s baggage was stored. Dividing it between the two, we 
proceeded to the place I had selected as the safest to get off 
to the steamer without attracting notice, and had it put into a 
boat. Paying the porters, I followed and was rowed off to 
the steamer. The baggage was hoisted on deck, the trunks 
deposited in the hold, and the smaller articles carried into my 
state-room; after which I went ashore to await the hour of 


A “GOLDEN” STATE BOOM. ^ 7 ^ 

the decisive movement for which I had made such elaborate 
preparations. There was no train by which the detective 
could return to Rio until late in the afternoon; and I felt 
certain that when he should ascertain that Munson was not 
upon the train, he would be confident that his intended victim 
had slipped off at a way station in order to make his escape 
into the interior. Under this impression he would naturally 
make inquiries at the likely stations, and even if he sent a dis¬ 
patch to the bank, it would doubtless be to the effect that 
his quarry had left Rio on the early train that morning with 
himself. 

The baggage had taken up my time until ten a. m., and 
returning to my hotel, I packed into a knapsack as many 
bags of gold (about £8,000) as I could conveniently carry, 
called a carriage, and was driven to where Munson had been 
waiting in great anxiety for several hours. Taking him in, 
we were not long in reaching the place of embarkation, and 
were rowed about five miles up the harbor, where the steamer 
had gone to take in coal. Amid the usual confusion attend¬ 
ing the departure of an ocean steamer, we got on board 
unnoticed, and went direct to the state-room. By the time 
we were in it the gold had become excessively heavy, and I 
was glad enough to stow it away in one of the berths. We 
had not been long in the state-room before we heard the wel¬ 
come sound of the bell, warning all who were not about to 
make the voyage to leave the steamer. I parted from Mun¬ 
son, recommending him to remain in his state-room until the 
ship should be well out into the Atlantic. Getting into the 
boat again, I was rowed away a short distance, then had the 
oarsman rest on his oars, and soon had the pleasure of seeing 
the Livjngstonia glide past with her prow pointed toward the 
“ Sugar-Loaf.” Now, for the first time, I breathed freely, and 
felt a great weight of responsibility roll from my shoulders. 
“ Munson is safe, and the danger is over,” said I to myself, 
joyfully. Ordering the boatman to row ashore, he turned in 
that direction, and then I saw a boat coming toward the 


172 


TOO LATE. 


steamer, with every oar strained to the utmost — but no atten¬ 
tion was paid to it. The occupants soon gave up the chase, 
and through my field-glass I recognized the manager of the 
bank and the Hebrew broker, Mr. Solomons, both of whom 
had been pointed out to me. They had probably just received 
a dispatch from the detective who had been so cleverly out¬ 
witted and left to journey alone, but having no time to pro¬ 
cure an order to delay the ship, had hurried off, hoping to get 
on board, confident that the captain would grant every facility 
for a search, and, in case of success, assist them to get Munson 
on shore again. Had they succeeded, I should have been 
involved, and probably learned the lesson on the island of 
Fernando da Noronha that I did later in England. 













Chapter XVII. 


IDLE DATS ,A.T RIO —IMPERIAL HONORS —VISIT TO A COFFEE PLANTATION — 
SLAVES — A TRIP TO THE LA PLATA — TEN DATS’ QUARANTINE ON THE ISLAND 
DE FLORES — MONTEVIDEO AND BUENOS ATRES — THE “ LA FRANCE” — OUT 
IN A PAMPERO — RETURN TO ENGLAND. 



URING my stay in Rio Janeiro I received from the 


±j Swedish Colonel, before alluded to, an invitation to be 
present at a special presentation of “ Ernani ” at the grand 
opera-house in honor of the Imperial family, in accordance 
with which I became one of the favored audience. This was 
very small, and appeared to be composed of the creme de la 
creme of Brazilian society, the Imperial box being occupied 
by the Emperor Dom Pedro, the Empress, their daughter 
and son-in-law, the latter having made his name famous in 
Brazilian history by his gallant conduct during the late war 
between the gigantic Empire of Brazil and the liliputian 
State of Paraguay. At the Academy of Fine Arts in Rio I 
noticed a large painting representing him seated on a fiery 
war-horse plunging about amid shot and shell, the princely 
rider, with sword waving on high, guiding the storm of battle. 
The Imperial family formed a marked contrast with the 
remainder of the audience, being plainly dressed and making 
no show of diamonds or other jewels. 

Now that Munson was safely on the broad Atlantic, with 
the bulk of the gold in his possession, I felt at ease, though 
there was still a chance that when it became certain that he 
had made his escape out of the country, I might be regarded 
with suspicion and detained. But as I had been extremely 
careful not to be seen in his company, I felt no great anxiety 
on that point. 


( 173 ) 



174 


A GIGANTIC SCHEME . 


The great mistake of that period of my life was that I did 
not abandon every other plan and go at once to Chicago to 
establish a legitimate business, in accordance with my original 
intentions. 

After securing all the cash we safely could at Rio, Munson 
taking the leading part, we had intended to go down the coast 
to Montevideo and Buenos Ayres, and repeat the operation, I 
doing the leading business in those cities. Going thence by 
steamer via the Strait of Magellan to Valparaiso, we were to 
continue northward, stopping at the large sea-ports along the 
Pacific Coast as far as San Francisco, from which place we 
intended to reach New York by the trans-continental railway, 
with at least a million dollars in our possession. 

It will be seen that this was a gigantic and well-devised 
scheme, which might easily have proven a complete success — 
my experience having led me to believe that such expectations 
were by no means unreasonable — had not Engles’s obstinacy 
thus frustrated our plan. In yielding to him the point that 
came up in London, as to whether both the manager’s and 
sub-manager’s names should appear on the forged letters of 
credit, I acquiesced in a step which virtually defeated the 
whole scheme, and changed an easy money-making affair into 
what just missed turning out a tragedy. 

After due consideration, I could see no way of getting out 
of Brazil otherwise than by a voyage to the Rio de la Plata 
(river of silver), it being supposed that I had sailed for 
Europe on board the last European steamer; in conse¬ 
quence I had to keep myself secluded as much as possible, 
to avoid running against the Pacific Mail Line agent and 
others. 

As it would be some days before I could obtain passage 
southward, I passed the intervening time in making excur¬ 
sions and sight-seeing, Rio and vicinity being a good place 
for both. I need not weary the reader with an extended 
description of the beautiful bay of Rio, closed in on all sides 
by mountains which rise almost from its shores, with the 


ATTRACTIONS AT RIO. 


175 

unique Sugar-Loaf, 900 feet high, like a huge sentinel guard¬ 
ing the entrance to a harbor which vies with the far-famed 



SCENE NEAR RIO JANEIRO. 


bay of Naples in the natural beauty and grandeur of its situa¬ 
tion and surroundings. 

The approach from the sea is very attractive. First 
















176 


EXCURSIONS. 


appear distant peaks, scarcely distinguishable from the 
clouds. Approaching, the outlines become more distinct, 
and other mountains become dimly visible in the distance, 
while the hills and slopes are covered with luxuriant tropical 
vegetation. Until the steamer nears the land, it appears as 
if she is about running against a solid wall; but when quite 
near, the cleft through the mountains opens up, and as she 
enters this, a part of the city appears in the distance. On 
the north side, opposite the Sugar-Loaf, is the fort of Santa 
Cruz, on which is a lighthouse; other fortifications guard the 
harbor, and no obstruction prevents ships from entering it in 
safety day or night. The water in this land-locked harbor is 
deep enough and its area sufficient to accommodate all the 
navies of the world. 

The Sugar-Loaf seemed so near the city that I thought it 
would be a good day’s sport to climb to the summit, and 
accordingly hired a boat with two oarsmen to row me down 
to its foot. After a long row, to my surprise it appeared as 
far away as ever; and as I could not understand the jabbering 
of the boatmen, I reluctantly gave the signal to return. A 
visit to the Horticultural Gardens, with their rows of gigantic 
palm-trees, and every variety of tropical flowers and plants, 
was exceedingly enjoyable; but nothing could be finer than 
a drive along the sides of the mountains behind the city, not 
more than a half-hour’s ride from its center. Here were 
located the villas of merchants and bankers, almost hidden 
by the foliage of shrubs and trees, and commanding a view of 
both city and harbor. 

One day, with an acquaintance, I took the early train on 
the same line where the detective was perhaps still looking 
for Munson, and alighted at a small hamlet on the border of 
a stream, about thirty miles from Rio, beyond the mountains. 
Calling at the only store, we found no one able to speak 
either French, Spanish, Italian, or German. Happening to 
look across the street, we saw a sign reading, “ Schroeder, 
Painter.” We hurried over, and entering, received in answer 
to my “ Sprecken sie Deutsche ?” a “ Ja, mein herr.” 


VIEW OF MONTEVIDEO 


















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































COFFEE. 


177 


With the painter’s aid, as interpreter, we were soon 
mounted on horse and mule respectively, I taking the latter. 
My companion intended to be considerably amused at my 
efforts to make the mule keep up with him; but he counted, 
on that occasion, without a proper knowledge of the charac¬ 
ter of that particular mule, which proved the better horse of 
the two. 

We rode for some miles through a country covered with 
mound-like hills, no sooner coming to the bottom of one than 
we were ascending another. These hills were covered with 
coffee bushes, filled with red fruit about the size of cherries, 
each containing two kernels. The coffee was being picked 
into large flat baskets by slaves, which when filled they carried 
away on their heads to the drying ground. The roads were 
bordered with orange trees loaded with luscious fruit, to which 
we helped ourselves. After a time we turned into a bridle¬ 
path, and rode three or four miles through a dense forest. 
We emerged upon the outskirts of a coffee plantation, where 
the slaves were just on their way to dinner; and another half- 
mile brought us to the planter’s residence. Thirty or forty 
slaves of both sexes and all ages were grouped upon the 
grass, engaged in eating a black looking stew out of metal 
dishes, their fingers serving for knives, forks, and spoons. 
Seeing two horsemen ride out of the forest, they stared in 
stupid wonder, until one, more intelligent than the others, 
went in search of the overseer. Presently a white man 
appeared, and to our question: “ Parlez vous Francais ? ” 
shook his head. “Sprecken sie Deutsche?” another shake, 
and the same to “ Habla Espagnole ? ” but, on hearing, “ Par- 
late Italiano ? ” came the smiling answer, “ Si, signor.” He 
proved to be an Italian overseer, in charge of this plantation 
owned by a merchant in the city, who seldom visited the prop¬ 
erty. The overseer showed us over the place and explained 
all the processes of preparing the coffee for market. 

In one corner of a large, unpainted wooden building was 
what he called the infirmary, and a comfortless looking place 
12 


178 


AN IRKSOME DELAY. 


it was. He said there was no doctor employed and that he 
dealt out medicine to the slaves himself. After being served 
with coffee, we departed and returned to Rio by the evening 
train. 

As the south-bound steamer was due the next day, the 
question which occupied my mind was : “ How am I to get out 
of Brazil ? ” Munson had left me his passport, from which I 
erased his name and description, and put in my own. The 
next morning I hired a person to take my passport to police 
headquarters, grease the official palm, and have it vis6d, 
although the chief was by law obliged to compare each pass¬ 
port with its holder. He soon returned with the document 
in proper shape, and I then purchased a ticket, leaving the 
passport with the agent. I embarked without trouble, and in 
four days was laying off Montevideo, at the mouth of the Rio 
La Plata, waiting for the health-officer. At that time there 
was no telegraph cable, and everything went slow along the 
coast of South America. 

After keeping the steamer waiting for some hours the 
health-officer condescended to come aboard, and although there 
had not been a single case of sickness, to declare us in quar¬ 
antine. Accordingly, after discharging the river freight, she 
ran out to sea thirty or forty miles to the Isle de Flores 
(flower island), on which the passengers were landed and kept 
there ten days, paying three dollars per day for board. At 
the expiration of this tiresome period we were taken on board 
a small steamer and landed at Montevideo. 

In that beautifully situated city of revolutions, the win¬ 
dows are barred like those of a prison, and the walls beveled 
so as to enable the inmates to shoot up and down the streets. 

Taking the night steamer, I- was landed at Buenos Ayres 
(good air) the next morning. At that time the place was a 
mongrel between the oriental, tropical, and a brand-new west¬ 
ern town. After a few days I determined to return to Europe. 
Therefore, my proper name being in my passport, I purchased 
a ticket for a passage by the steamer La France to Marseilles. 


PARIS AGAIN. 


179 


Running up the coast of South America we were in a pam¬ 
pero (hurricane) for twenty-four hours; and although the La 
France was one of the largest steamers then afloat, the waves 
dashed away over her smokestack and tossed her about like 
an empty cask. 

The La France ran into the harbor of Rio Janeiro and lay 
off the city for several hours. When she came to anchor a 
sidewheel steamer of the line which ran from Rio to New 
York was at the point of leaving. I hailed a boat and was 
rowed off to her to ascertain if I could secure passage to 
New York. When my boat reached the side of the New 
York steamer, I was informed that nearly all passenger 
accommodations had been secured for the Brazilian Prince 
Imperial, and that I could not be permitted to come on board. 

What slight circumstances may change the destiny of 
men for better or for worse,—for a life of poverty and 
wretchedness or prosperity and happiness,— for a long life or 
a premature death! Had I been able to proceed direct to 
New York, and from thence to Chicago, to carry out my long- 
deferred plan, my whole destiny would have been changed; 
for the possibility of perpetrating the frauds on the Bank 
of England was then among things unknown, and afterwards 
discovered only by accident. 

Among my baggage I always carried a galvanic battery, 
and as there were several hundred Spanish, Portuguese, and 
Italians in the steerage — none of whom had any experience 
with electricity, as developed by human agency — we had no 
end of sport by tempting them to take a silver coin out of 
a bucket of electrized water, and by playing many games to 
give them unexpected shocks. These people were ignorant 
and superstitious and soon came to believe that we were in 
league with the devil. 

In due time I landed at Marseilles, took the train for Paris 
via Lyons, and arrived in Paris where 1 joined Munson. 
In the next chapter will be detailed the series of operations 
which led to the disastrous affair with the Bank of England. 


Chapter XYIII. 


I MEET MUNSON IN PARIS — HIS ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE FROM RIO—A PLEAS¬ 
URE TRIP TO VIENNA —ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE — AN ELECTRIC PHENOMENA — 
I AIR MY GERMAN — RETURN TO LONDON — INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL IN GERMANY. 



FTER my return to Paris I met Munson, who related 


l \ to me the incidents of the voyage from Rio Janeiro, 
and subsequent events. The following is an epitome of his 


story: 


“For some little time after you left me on board the 
Livingstonia , I remained perfectly quiet in the state-room, 
until I heard the screw begin to revolve and I felt satisfied 
that the steamer was at last under way. I then ventured out 
on deck, and recognized you in the boat. I also, through 
my glass, saw a boat at a distance pulling hard toward the 
steamer, and the sight made my heart give a great thump; 
but as the steamer continued on past the last fort, headed for 
the ocean, I recovered my equanimity and drew a breath of 
relief, you may be sure. Then, for the first time, I realized 
what a terrible strain I had undergone for the week previous 
to my escape from Rio Janeiro. It was just the tightest 
bottle I was ever corked up in, and had I known of those 
regulations about passports, I never should have put my neck 
so nearly into the Brazilian halter; and when we were pass¬ 
ing the lonely island where the convicts are kept, I gazed 
upon it, happy that I was no longer a candidate for a long 
residence in that desolate-looking place. On board I found 
everything correct, and no suspicion existing that I was not 
the man who had purchased the ticket. 

“ When we were about two hundred miles out the engine 
broke down, and for a time I thought she would have to put 


( 180 ) 



MEETING WITH McDONALD. 281 

* 

back to Rio. In that case I knew it would be all up with me, 
and you can imagine the state of my feelings while the sus¬ 
pense lasted. However, after a few hours the break was 
repaired, and we got under way again. 

“ The $40,000 in gold, which I kept in my state-room, was 
a source of much anxiety. I hardly dared to go on deck, or 
into the saloon at meal-time, through fear that it might be 
stolen. At last I put the money in possession of the purser, 
who charged me two per cent., or eight hundred dollars, 
claiming that it was the regular rate. On the arrival of the 
steamer at Lisbon, I determined to go on shore, and make 
my way to Paris overland through Spain, for the reason that 
I feared dispatches might have been sent from the nearest 
cable station to England, warning the police to be on the 
lookout when the steamer should arrive at Liverpool. 

“ As the gold was too heavy a load to lug about, and likely 
to attract attention, I went to an English firm of brokers 
doing business in Lisbon, and purchased Portuguese stocks. 
Having thus got the money into portable shape, I journeyed 
by rail and diligence to Paris, where I have since remained.” 

A few days later I met McDonald. He was eager for 
“business,” and almost the first question he asked was, 
“ What is the programme ? ” 

“Let us return to the United States,” I replied. “We 
have a good capital now to put into a straight mercantile 
business. Let us do no more 4 crooked 9 work, which will be 
certain to get us into trouble sooner or later.” For that 
“ one more operation ” among all classes and grades of thieves, 
from the common sneak to the colossal bank defaulter and 
“ boodler,” is continued until the small ones get into prison, 
and the great ones (generally) get out. of the country. 

We finally concluded to go to Paris and Vienna for a 
time. When we reached the latter city we were delayed by 
the sickness of McDonald, who was suffering from a disease 
like modern “malaria.” I nursed him for two or three 
weeks, and during the time gave him several powerful shocks 


182 


THE GERMAN OPERA. 

* 

from my battery, which nearly raised him out of bed, if they 
did not cure him. 

We were living in Vienna—McDonald at the Golden 
Lamb, and I at the Grand Hotel. While waiting for Mac’s 
recovery I visited the Imperial opera-house almost nightly, 
and never tired of listening to the music of the magnificent 
orchestra — then the best in the world — each member being 
a solo artist or professor, and receiving a large salary or pen¬ 
sion from the Emperor. The operas were rendered in the 
German language, and “ Orpheus and Eurydice” was brought 
out in a manner that left an indelible impression upon my 
mind, although I had previously witnessed that great creation 
of Gluck’s in Paris, London, and New York. 

As I passed the entire day with McDonald at his hotel, I 
must have contracted his malady to some extent, for when he 
began to get about I was prostrated and confined to my room 
for a whole week. As I had never experienced serious illness 
of any kind since childhood, I became so impatient by the 
end of the week that, notwithstanding the doctor’s com¬ 
mands, I declared myself recovered, got up and dressed 
myself for a walk. On each floor of the Grand Hotel in 
Vienna there was at this time (1872) an office where a servant 
or two was in waiting to answer the bells. When I was 
ready to go out I had occasion to call a servant, and touched 
the electric button. I distinctly heard the bell in the office 
ring in response, as I stood, cane in hand, waiting at the 
open door of my room. Soon I touched and held down the 
button for a longer time, and again waited in vain. In my 
then nervous condition I lost both patience and temper, and 
continued the pressure on the button with the following result: 
My room was located in a back corridor farthest from the 
office. When I touched the button I heard the electric bell 
connected with my room tingling rapidly; soon another joined 
in — then another — and another — until I had a concert of at 
least a hundred bells going. Presently servants came rushing 
through the corridor, and seeing me, one of, them explained 


“SIE SIND SCHON 


183 


that my hell had set all the other bells in the house going, and 
in consequence they could not tell what room the call was 
from. I could only tell them that if they had answered my 
first or second call there would have been no concert. Thence¬ 
forth my calls were promptly answered so long as I remained 
at that hotel. Had Mark Twain been at the Grand Hotel that 
day, I am sure he could have obtained material for an entire 
humorous chapter. 

While on the way to Mac’s hotel I used frequently to stop 
in at a news-office to purchase the daily paper, which I read 
assiduously to improve my knowledge of the German lan¬ 
guage. This news-office was conducted by two sisters, who 
were fair specimens of their sex in a city famed the world 
over for beautiful women. I used to air my German by ask¬ 
ing in that language for the papers I wanted, and generally, 
to my great satisfaction, found that they understood me. 
After I had been a regular customer for some time, I ventured 
to attempt a compliment upon the good looks of one of the 
sisters, remarking: “ Sie sind schon ! ” A look of surprise 
and the exclamation “ Was ?” (what) caused me to repeat in 
my best German: “ Sie sind schon! ” The young lady 
blushed, looking at me earnestly, and seeing that I wore an 
innocent air and was apparently unconscious of anything but 
pride in my knowledge of German, cast her eyes thought¬ 
fully downward for a moment, and then suddenly burst out 
laughing, clapped her hands vigorously and said: “ Oh 

Meinherr ! Sie wollen sagen schon!” (You are beautiful). 
The reader will observe the two dots (diaeresis) over the “ o ” 
of the last “ schon,” without which the pronunciation of the 
word is quite different, and signifies “ already ” instead of 
“ beautiful.” I had no intention of saying to her, “ You are 
already! ” 

Of the many incidents connected with this Vienna trip, 1 
distinctly remember two. While on the train between Paris 
and Frankfort-—having no money current in the German 
States—I could purchase nothing to eat. This was before 


184 


MAGYAR GENEROSITY. 


the new Prussian coinage had displaced the wretched system 
previously in vogue, by which each petty State manufactured 
its own circulating medium. In the same compartment with 
me was a Hungarian gentleman and his wife, on the way from 
Paris to their home in Prague. This gentleman spoke Eng¬ 
lish fluently, and as soon as he learned that I was an Ameri¬ 
can, both himself and wife became enthusiastic in their efforts 
to be sociable. Noticing that I did not get out at the 
halting places for meals, he finally inquired the reason. 
When I acknowledged the dilemma I was in, he produced a 
large pocket-book, which he opened and handed to me saying: 
“ Help yourself.” From a large amount in Austrian bank¬ 
notes I selected one of the smallest denomination, and returned 
the pocketbook with my thanks. On arrival at Frankfort, I 
at once procured the amount at the hotel and sent it to the 
courteous Hungarian. 

On another occasion, at the station of a German town, a 
young married couple came into the same compartment. 
They appeared to belong to the prosperous portion of the com¬ 
munity, and a throng of well-dressed people came to the train 
to see them off. The bridegroom wore a big, loose German 
wrapper, something like an ulster, and I observed that the 
pockets were like bags well filled. Not long after we came 
to a dining station, where all but the bridal pair and myself 
had dinner. I naturally supposed that the excitement of the 
occasion had taken away their appetites, but was thoroughly 
undeceived when, a little later, the man spread a newspaper 
over their laps, took from one pocket a loaf of bread at least 
one and a half feet long, and from another a monstrous bologna 
sausage. Then, taking out his pocket-knife he cut off a 
“ chunk ” of each for his bride and for himself. In a remark¬ 
ably short period they had eaten fully one-half the provisions, 
and the remainder was consigned back to the pockets until 
supper time. 

I mention these incidents of travel merely to illustrate the 
proverbial generosity and honest simplicity of the Slavonic 
and Germanic character. 




Chapter XIX. 


UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO “BEAT THE BUTCH” — MAC’S “GREAT DISCOVERY 77 
— LONDON AGAIN — FIRST INCEPTION OF THE GREAT BANK OF ENGLAND FORGERY 
— DEDUCTIONS FROM MCDONALD’S “GREAT DISCOVERY”—VERIFICATION OF 
COMMERCIAL NOTES AND BILLS OF EXCHANGE — LETTER FROM A BANK MANAGER 
— I CABLE TO AMERICA FOR NOYES — SIR SIDNEY WATERLOW’S CLERKS — MIS¬ 
TAKEN IDENTITY — A KEY TO THE MYSTERY — NO WOOD ENGRAVERS IN PARIS 
— I PUT MY NECK IN THE HALTER — HORTON ACCOUNT OPENED AT THE CONTI¬ 
NENTAL BANK —THE “FRAUD MACHINE ” IN WORKING ORDER— I RESOLVE TO 
GIVE UP THE CONTEMPLATED FRAUD AND GO HOME—A FATAL COMPLIANCE — 

don’t. 

O NCE more in London with my two companions, the ques¬ 
tion arose : “ What next ? ” I had determined to aban¬ 
don a dangerous business; but difficulties arose which caused 
delay in the execution of my project, until finally I concluded 
to go to Amsterdam to see if I could find an opening for one 
more operation which was to be the very last — and such the 
one opened up by this journey proved to be. Leaving my 
companions in London, I arrived in the city of dykes and 
canals, and at once began prospecting among the bankers. 
But the cautious Hollanders would have nothing to do with 
strangers at any price, no matter how plausible the pretext. 
It was in vain that I show r ed them my circular letter of credit 
and United States passport. These awe-inspiring documents, 
which elsewhere had proved a sufficient introduction, had no 
effect with the good burghers of Amsterdam. They received 
me very politely, and on my expressing a wish to purchase a 
bill of exchange on London (or any other city), the reply 
invariably was : “ Have you a letter of introduction to us ? ” 
Upon my replying in the negative : “We never transact busi¬ 
ness of any kind with persons unknown to us,” was added in 
way of explanation. Then handing over the documents above 

( 185 ) 




183 


IN THE JUDEN STEASSE. 


mentioned, I said : “ Unfortunately I did not procure letters 
to any one in this city, not expecting to make any stay, but I 
suppose my letter of credit and passport will be a sufficient 
introduction for the purchase of a bill to be paid for in cash ? ” 
“ Anyone can procure a circular letter of credit,” was the 
reply ; “ besides it is our invariable rule to decline all dealings 
except with those with whom we are acquainted, either per¬ 
sonally or by introduction.” A few trials with the same 
result satisfied me that some other plan must be discovered. 
I was nearly at my wits’ end as to how to insert the small end 
of the wedge which should pry out a good-sized nugget from 
the “pocket” of one of these bulky — in body and estate — 
but justly cautious Hollanders, who really understood how to 
do business safely. 

Some time previously I had purchased several bills of 
exchange in Frankfort, drawn on merchants in Amsterdam, 
but not yet due. I now called on them, and, in each case, 
had the bills accepted, at the same time telling them that I 
wished to use the money and would feel obliged if they would 
pay their bill at once less the discount. The reply was as I 
expected, that they based all their merchandise operations on 
paying bills only as fast as they became due. The real object 
of the request was that I should have some excuse for asking 
the address of a broker whom I could employ to purchase 
bills, etc. My ruse was successful—for, supposing that one 
who held their own paper to a considerable amount must be 
all right, upon my request a member of one of the firms on 
whom I called gave me the name of a Mr. Pinto, a Hebrew 
member of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. In this way I 
soon procured several addresses. With the list I returned to 
the “ Black Eagle,” and after a twelve o’clock dinner I went 
in search of Mr. Pinto and found him at his residence — a 
front room of which served for an office — in the Juden 
Strasse (Jew Street), and a strange place it is on a Saturday 
afternoon, the time when I first visited that unfragrant quar¬ 
ter. Informing him of my business and the name of the mer- 


AN UNFRUITFUL FIELD. 


18T 


chant who gave me his address — which he appeared to think 
a sufficient introduction — he took the matter in hand, and 
leaving 20,000 guilders in Dutch bank-notes with him for the 
purchase of bills on Hamburgh, also the Frankfort bills before 
named, to be sold on “ Change,” I departed. Calling the fol¬ 
lowing day I found that he had accomplished the transaction. 
I then deposited a still larger sum with him, and requested 
him to purchase some bills in “ marks banco.” These were 
duly purchased and delivered, but so far I could see no open¬ 
ing for a “ speculation ” of my peculiar kind. Having no 
particular plan of procedure up to this moment, I was only 
casting about in an experimental way. A day or two later I 
called, and arranged to have him sell on Change all the bills 
on Hamburgh. Later he informed me that the rate of 
exchange on that city was lower and that he had not sold on 
account of the price. Upon explaining that I had another 
operation in view that would recoup me for the loss, he im¬ 
mediately went on Change and sold out at a loss of fifty 
pounds sterling. Among the bills previously purchased was 
one on Baring Brothers, which I had sent to McDonald in 
London, and which, as will be seen, proved to be the first step 
in the “ Great Bank Forgery.” 

Aside from the Barings bill the purchase and sale of all 
those bills had accomplished nothing but to increase my 
respect for the cautious, therefore safe modes of transacting 
business in Holland. In these respects, far ahead of any 
other country in which I ever had business transactions, the 
strict uncompromising methods of the Dutch rendered the 
country a most unfruitful field for all classes of swindlers. 
I had sold out the bills as above, because there seemed to be 
no possible way, that I could see, to “ beat the Dutch,” and I had 
in consequence resolved to proceed to Frankfort-on-the-Main, 
with the hope of finding some way to make the Rothschilds 
contribute a small part of the wealth accumulated at the origi¬ 
nal starting-place of that remarkable family. My prepara¬ 
tions for going to that city being completed, at the moment of 


188 


MAC EXPLAINS. 


departure I received a dispatch from Mac that changed the 
whole aspect of affairs, and proved that the unpremeditated 
sending of the Baring bill gave the first impulse to a train of 
ideas which finally culminated in the fraud on the Bank of 
England. Let the reader bear in mind that this was in No¬ 
vember, less than four months before the first false bills were 
sent to the Bank of England for discount. The dispatch read 
as follows: 

London, November 2d, 1872. 

To George Bidwell, Amsterdam: 

Have made a great discovery. Come immediately. Mao. 

This dispatch was really the first inception of the fraud; 
and yet the bank managers, in order to protect themselves from 
the charge of carelessness, although aware of • the existence 
of the dispatch, made every effort to carry the impression 
that we had contrived the plan of the fraud in America; had 
there spent many months in making preparations; and that 
all of our operations on the Continent, described above and 
elsewhere, were a part of the original scheme. I have no 
desire to extenuate or excuse, but this fact, together with the 
alleged “ attempt to escape from Newgate ” during the trial, 
was what really got us the “ life sentence.” 

That dispatch was a great mystery to me, but I quickly 
decided to obey the summons, first obtaining through Mr. 
Pinto a number of bills of exchange drawn on first-class 
London houses. Arriving in London the following night, I 
received from McDonald a solution of the mystery. I give his 
explanation, as near as I can remember, in his own words: 

“ As soon as I received that bill on Baring’s I went there 
to collect the money. Instead of paying the amount by 
check or in gold or notes, as I expected, the cashier stamped 
on the face: ‘Payable at the London and Westminster Bank,’ 
and endorsed it. Upon taking it there it was cashed without 
a question. It occurred to me immediately that if we were 
to get some blank bills of exchange, we could make as many 
as we liked by imitating the original, and draw the money from 
the bank with the same ease that I did for the genuine bill.” 


AN OPENING. 


189 


Such was the u great discovery ” that had brought me 
from Holland, and it might have worked for the small sums 
that could be drawn in one day, with due regard to safety. 
That did not suit me, and Mac’s financial plan was never 
put in operation in the form he had conceived; nevertheless 
it served as an initiatory step in the long journey which wo 
were preparing to undertake. 

McDonald had no sooner informed me of the particulars 
regarding his “ great discovery ” than it flashed through my 
mind: “ Here is the opportunity to use the long-neglected 
Bank of England account.” I reasoned that as the bank had 
paid the Barings bill to McDonald without verifying the 
signature, it must be the custom in England to transfer bills 
of exchange from hand to hand without sending them to the 
acceptors to be initialed. If this was true, it followed that 
the banks discounted paper without making any inquiry as 
to the genuineness of the signatures, relying entirely on the 
character of the customer who offered the paper for discount. 

Here was an opening, indeed I 

When this proved to be a fact, all I had to do was to start 
a manufactory for making imitation bills, and deposit them 
in the Bank of England for discount through the medium of 
the “ Warren” account. 

This reasoning appeared to be sound; still, I could not 
believe it to be among the possibilities that any bank, espe¬ 
cially an institution like the Bank of England, should do 
business in so loose a manner. In New York, so long ago as 
1854 — the year of my first visit to that emporium — it had 
been the custom among the bankers and brokers to send all 
offered paper to the purported drawers or acceptors to have it 
initialed by them. In consequence of that very necessary 
precaution, any attempt to perpetrate on a New York bank 
such a fraud as the one so easily carried out against the 
Bank of England, would have been nipped in the bud. 

The following letter from the London Times comes in 
apropos at this point: 


190 


PLOTS. 


London, September 8, 1873. 

To the Editor of “The Times”: 

Sir, — The revelations which have been made, in connection 
with the late Bank of England forgeries, have shown us a weak¬ 
ness in our way of doing business in neglecting to obtain the verifi¬ 
cation of acceptors and drawers to bills discounted. 

Doubtless the presentation and initialing of every bill discounted 
by our large London bankers would entail much time and extra 
labor, and would in many cases be impossible; but it would be a 
comparatively easy matter to send a copy of each bill discounted to 
the acceptor and drawer, informing them that such a bill had been 

discounted by Messrs.-, printed forms being kept for the 

purpose, leaving a blank place for name, date, and amount. 

I am, etc., Bank Manager. 

In turn I explained my plan of using the Warren account 
in the Bank of England that had been lying so long compara¬ 
tively useless. Without delay the bulk of our money was 
placed in Warren’s hands to deposit in the account, so that 
in case we finally concluded to attempt the execution of the 
fraud, the large balance would show well on the bank books. 
I also sent the following cable dispatch to E. Noyes H — 
(“ Noyes ”), New York : 

Come by first steamer. Answer, Langham, London. 

In sending for Noyes at this time, my idea was to have 
“ Warren” introduce him to the bank, and let him open an 
account, by means of which the fraud could be carried on, 
leaving Austin entirely disconnected with it, save in having 
introduced Noyes. I imagined that in such a case no proof 
could be adduced that he knew, at the time of introduction, 
of Noyes’ intention to defraud the bank. On more mature 
reflection I saw that such a transfer might thwart the whole 
undertaking, by starting inquiries which should bring to light 
the very slender foundation on which the Warren account 
had been opened with the Bank of England. Besides, that 
account had been made more solid by the length of time it 
had been opened, and the amount of legitimate business 



MONETARY MATTERS . 191 

transactions through it. I therefore proposed an alternative 
plan which was at once put in execution, as follows: 

On the 2d of December, 1873, Austin, who had not yet 
had the warning of a portending railway accident, opened an 
account at the Continental Bank in the name of C. J. Horton, 
depositing £1,300 in bank-notes. As anticipated, seeing 
their new customer deposit such a sum, no embarrassing 
questions were asked by the managers, and, doubtless, 
noting that he had “ business ” transactions with a depositor 
in the Bank of England, whose checks were duly honored 
there, they were led to believe that further inquiry was 
unnecessary. The next day I had a Warren check deposited 
to Horton’s account, and the operation repeated, varied with 
checking out small sums, from day to day, in order to give 
the affair an air of genuine business. I also purchased sev¬ 
eral bills of exchange, and had Warren take them to the bank 
manager, Mr. Francis, for discount. Upon returning from 
the bank, he said there would be no risk in taking £50,000 
in false bills and bringing away the gold, thus ending the whole 
matter at a stroke. But this appearing to me a hazardous 
undertaking, I adhered to the slower plan, though, as the 
sequel shows, such a coup might have been successful. The 
backs of the bills were covered with the endorsements of 
the various firms through whose hands they had passed. 
These endorsements were copied in facsimile so that the 
false bills in contemplation should have all the characteristics 
of the originals. 

As bills of exchange will be frequently mentioned, some of 
my readers may not know exactly what they are, and how 
used. For example, a manufacturer of silk in Lyons sells 
goods to the amount of five thousand dollars to a responsible 
merchant on six months’ credit. The merchant gives his note 
or bill for the whole, or, as is usual, several of five hundred 
or a thousand each, to the order of himself, or the manufact¬ 
urer, payable at (say) Rothschilds’ in London. He is careful 
to see that his balance is sufficient or to arrange with the Roths- 


192 


THE LORD MAYOR'S PRINTING-HOUSE. 


cliilds to accept and pay them when due. The manufacturer 
endorsing pays them out, or puts them in his bank for discount. 
The bank in turn also endorsing, sells them to a customer who 
has bills to meet in London. After endorsing, he likewise 
remits them to his correspondents, who pay his bills with the 
proceeds of their discount or sale—first, however, sending 
them to be accepted by the Rothschilds, from which time they 
are known as “ acceptances.” 

It may be easily seen how I was enabled to plan and exe¬ 
cute this mammoth fraud, when I state that the Bank of Eng¬ 
land cashed acceptances such as I have described without 
sending them to the Rothschilds to see whether their signa¬ 
ture or acceptance was genuine. The last seven words give the 
key to the whole mystery. While in Germany I had purchased 
every variety of ink on sale at the stationers, so that in case of 
need I could have not only any written document imitated, 
but also written with like ink. I had also, out of curiosity, 
purchased a great variety of blank bills of exchange, printed 
in French, German, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Turkish, and 
Arabic. At the time of this purchase, my companions laughed 
at me for “ lugging about a lot of trash ” for which I had no 
possible use. But, now that I was about to tackle the Bank 
of England, I found them, like Mrs. Partington’s coffin-plate, 
handy to have in a portmanteau. I also continued sending 
remittances to my Hebrew broker in Amsterdam, Mr. Pinto, 
requesting him to send me several bills on London. These, 
together with some already in my possession, gave me the 
opportunity of getting a great number of the endorsements, 
stamps, and signatures of leading firms on the Continent and 
in London. 

I went to the printing and stationery establishment of Sir 
Sidney Waterlow, then Lord Mayor of London, before whom 
we were afterward under examination at the Mansion House, 
at intervals for four months (see cut), there I left an order for 
two books of blank drafts or bills of exchange, and in a few 
days called at the city office for them. The manager had to 





















































































































































































































































































































































































































BLACK AND BLUE. 


193 


send to the printing-house for them, and in consequence kept 
me waiting more than an hour, he and the clerk talking with 
me for some time. Yet those two men within three months 
swore before their master, the Lord Mayor, on our examination, 
that McDonald was the man — he having light hair and blue 
eyes, my hair being black — and Mac and I sitting beside 
each other in full view of the witnesses. 

I only mention this as an instance of mistaken identifica¬ 
tion, which less than fifty years ago might have hanged Mac, 
and set me, the real actor, at liberty. In this connection it 
will be proper to state that, not wishing any one to suffer for 
my own acts, as soon as the day’s examination was over, 
after returning to my lonely cell in Newgate, I wrote a full 
account regarding my visit to the Lord Mayor’s establishment, 
giving particulars which proved so conclusive that those im¬ 
portant witnesses did not appear at the subsequent trial at 
the Old Bailey. 

I also required some small wood engravings—fac-similes 
of the various bank and private endorsement stamps. It had 
been a part of my plan that I was to remain in the back¬ 
ground, contriving and giving directions, leaving others to 
carry them out. The reason for this was that I might be free 
from anxiety for my personal safety, and would thereby be 
enabled to act with coolness and judgment in the manage¬ 
ment of the business, and in disposing of the proceeds of the 
fraud in case the project should be successful. I also intended 
that no one of us, except Noyes, should show himself in Eng¬ 
land in connection with the affair, therefore I sent McDonald, 
who could pass for a Frenchman, to Paris to get the required 
blocks engraved. After three or four days’ absence he 
returned to London without them, and gave me the surprising 
information that there were “ no wood engravers in Paris.’' 
I afterwards discovered that while there he whiled away the 
time, and returned to play that tale on my credulity. 

Placing implicit belief in that statement, I had a serious 
argument with myself as to whether I should not throw up the 
13 


194 


LONDON WOOD ENGRAVERS. 


whole matter and go home, rather than do anything which 
might involve me and leave a possible clue to connect myself 
with the fraud; for it would be a very delicate operation to pro¬ 
cure the blocks, etc., in London, without arousing suspicion, 
and I would trust no one else to do it. Suppose that the 
actions or words of the person sent should excite the suspicion 



MERCHANTS EXCHANGE, ILLUMINATED. 


of the engraver, trifling indications of which might not be 
noticed, or thought worth reporting to me ? The engraver 
would communicate his suspicions to the police, detectives 
put on, and we “ ambushed ” in the midst of our operations. 
Finally I resolved to order the blocks myself — there being no 
wood engravers in Paris —though with great reluctance, and 









NOYES THE HERO. 


195 


with the feeling that I was committing a grave error. 1 
therefore made a list of all the wood engravers in London, and 
spent two or three days driving about in a cab, selecting five 
out of the forty or fifty with whom I conversed, to do the 
work, judging them to possess simple, unsuspicious natures. 
The result proved that I made no mistake in my selections, 
as the work was quickly done, and no suspicions as to its real 
object transpired. 

It would appear that the qualifications thus worse than 
wasted, if properly used might have taken me to the top round 
of the ladder; though I do not mention this in a boasting 
spirit, but only to show that where I made a failure of getting 
rich by dishonest means, others would doubtless have been de¬ 
feated, for “ something ” always happens. 

In the meantime Noyes had received my cablegram and 
sailed for England. An hour after his arrival in London I 
met him, and in answer to his inquiries, informed him 
that I was speculating on the Merchants’ Exchange, and 
expected to wind up my operations shortly. I told him he 
must ask no more questions, but follow my directions implic¬ 
itly and promptly ; that I should not even let him know where 
the rest of us lodged, after the first of January. I further 
informed him that he was to act as clerk for “ Horton,” 
and though our operations were a little irregular, that he 
should be taken care of, kept out of danger, and be well paid 
for his services; and impressing it on his mind to obey orders 
like a soldier, I left him. 

And yet, this man, who was to be paid with about five per 
cent, of the proceeds of the crime, received the same life sen¬ 
tence, and is at the present time serving his sixteenth year at 
hard labor in Portsmouth Prison, England. When arrested, 
he would not betray us ! even though the prosecution offered 
to permit him to turn Queen’s evidence, the acceptance of 
which would have freed him as soon as the trial should be 
finished. Let his case be a warning not to touch pitch lest 
ye be drawn into the slimy depths. 


196 


A PROPOSITION. 


In order to secure Noyes against any fatal disaster in case 
of a premature discovery, I had an advertisement for a situa¬ 
tion as clerk, by one who could deposit a cash guarantee, 
inserted in the Daily Telegraph (London). This Noyes was 
to show to the landlord of Durant’s hotel where he was staying, 
and arrange a meeting between himself and Horton, taking 
care that persons should be within hearing while the latter 
bargained with the former to become his clerk. To cover 
this source of danger to Noyes more surely, I had them go to 
David Howell, solicitor — of whom more anon — who drew 
up an article of agreement between them, for which that delec¬ 
table limb of the law charged ten pounds sterling. On De¬ 
cember 28, 1872, I mailed from Birmingham to the Bank of 
England genuine bills of exchange, amounting to four thou¬ 
sand three hundred and seven pounds, for discount, in order 
to ascertain if our “ Fraud Machine ” was in working order, 
and as they were discounted without question, this proved to 
be the case. 

Shortly after the events just recorded, I received a letter 
from my wife which determined me to return home at once, 
and woe to me that I failed to carry out that determination. 
Going immediately to the Grosvenor Hotel, where my two prin¬ 
cipal associates were staying, I informed them of my resolution. 
After some discussion it was agreed to drop the plan against 
the Bank, and I reverted to my old idea of going to Chicago 
to engage in trade. 

Upon leaving I told my brother that I was going to pay 
my bills, and should call later for a check for my share of the 
money in the bank. Having paid up all my personal debts, 
I found that I could get off to America by the next day’s 
steamer from Liverpool. Permit me right here to call atten¬ 
tion to one of those very slight causes which affect a man’s 
entire future existence, and which made me change my plans, 
so that, instead of passing happy years amidst family and 
friends, I came to endure long years of misery in a foreign 
prison. Thus it happened: While I was absent, McDonald 


THEORIZING. 


19T 


requested my brother Austin to propose to me that I should 
leave my share of the money behind in the bank and draw 
for it after my arrival in America. Accordingly, when I 
returned, that proposition was made to me, and it placed me 
in a quandary; for I did not like to show apparent distrust 
by refusing, nor did I like the idea of leaving it behind. 
Besides such a proposition at that juncture, made me suspect 
an intention on their part to remain behind with the idea 
of attempting to carry out the plan of fraud. In my opin¬ 
ion, any attempt to undertake the management of such an 
operation, involved certain disaster, as neither of them pos¬ 
sessed the exact qualifications requisite, especially an exact 
knowledge of, and experience acquired in, legitimate busi¬ 
ness. I theorized thus to myself: “ This is one of those 
unique operations which, if anything, will result in a great 
success or a terrible disaster. I see clearly that the affair 
can be carried on so that only one person need show himself, 
and if each does his part thoroughly, it can be done with 
little or no risk. Still it will not be common prudence for us 
two brothers to take part in the same criminal operation. If 
1 go into this, he shall go home ; and if I should get into trou¬ 
ble, he could look after my family. But that 4 if ’ is what 
troubles me. To be sure, I can shroud the operation and 
the operators in so thick a veil of mystery that it would 
trouble them to get a clue or even to discover the fraud until 
two months after we should all be out of England.” It will 
be perceived that the whole plan and system of operations 
stood clearly outlined in my mind. One thing alone gave me 
cause of distrust, and that was the possibility of carelessness 
or neglect on the part of my ablest associate; but I thought 
I could make such strict terms and conditions that no 
disaster would be likely to happen from that source, unless 
I was directly deceived and kept in the dark regarding his 
movements, and I believed he had too much good sense to do 
that. The result will show, by one of the most remarkable 
examples on record, that the only road to final success is to 


198 


“IF” 


keep clear of the slightest contact with wrong-doing, no 
matter how plausible the reasonings. 

Certainly, in planning so gigantic a fraud, I believed every 
point could be so completely covered, that even my name 
would never be known, for otherwise I should have been 
hunted through the world. Without this apparent certainty 
I should have abandoned the idea of a job which turned out 
so badly that it took me nearly fifteen years to get out of it. 

If among my readers there may be one who has become 
possessed with the idea that he cannot make money enough 
honestly to satisfy his desires, and is inclined to try the other 
plan, my counsel is— don't! Better to reduce the desires to 
fit the circumstances, than get into circumstances the end of 
which may be a prison — in any event, disgrace. 

I tried one plan thoroughly, and as sure as you do, it will 
come home and blast your life, as it has blasted mine and the 
lives of those near and dear to me—and as it has invariably 
blasted the lives of all who have “ tried it on 

Still that “ if ” stood in my way; however, I finally con¬ 
cluded to defer my journey home for a day or two, that I 
might have time to consider this new phase in the posture of 
affairs. 



\ 





Chapter XX. 


A HEADLONG MARRIAGE—TRAGIC END OF A BRIDAL TOUR —FIRST LETTER TO 
THE BANK OF ENGLAND — $ 50,000 A DAY—AM PUZZLED WHAT TO DO WITH 
SO MUCH GOLD — A TRIO AT THE ST. JAMES HOTEL, PICCADILLY — FOREBOD¬ 
INGS— A JOKE ON THE PRINCE OF WALES—GARRAWAY’S. 



FTER some consideration I decided, instead of return- 


i \ ing to America, to take the management of the con¬ 
templated fraud on the Bank of England; for it appeared as 
certain as any human event that, with proper precautions and 
skillful handling, the scheme could be carried out without our 
real names becoming known, and that no clue need be left by 
which any trace of the perpetrators could be discovered. 

Even with this prospect, I resolved that my brother 
should not take the risk of remaining in England, so that 
in case the attempt resulted disastrously, he at least would be 
in safety. 

I was regarded the only one who could manage the affair 
with any hope of success, and I declined to have anything to 
do with it unless Austin was first beyond danger. 

At this juncture a remarkable circumstance occurred, 
which, with his engagement, decided the matter according 
to my wish. Thus it happened: About the first of January, 
1873, Austin left for Paris. The express train, beyond Calais, 
ran off the track, and one man or more was killed in the 
same carriage with him. He was jammed in the wreck, 
badly wounded with splinters, and so shaken that he was 
carried away on a stretcher to the other train. He believed 
his escape almost miraculous. 

I have referred to Austin’s engagement, the nature of 
which was as follows: While in London, he had made the 


(199) 



200 


“ THEIR WEDDING JO URNE Y. 


acquaintance of a young lady whom he determined to marry. 
Matters had come to this stage before I was informed of 
the affair. 

When he disclosed to me his intention of marrying the 
young lady, I said to him: “ Do not think of marrying her 
before you are settled in business. Go home, and with the 
money you have, get into some legitimate occupation; then 
you can marry with a good conscience,” etc. But when did a 
person in love ever act from prudential considerations, and on 
wholesome advice? 

The matter remained thus until after the railway accident 
before mentioned, and I now found him very willing to go 
home, cutting off all connection with the contemplated fraud; 
also to give up the idea of marriage until he had established 
himself in business. Accordingly I went with him as far as 
Calais — he to take the steamer at Havre for New York — 
and returned to London to begin putting the forged bills 
into the Bank of England, rejoicing in the fact that my 
brother was then on his way back to America and conse¬ 
quent safety; but, as I discovered some months later, he 
remained in France. 

After we parted at Calais, it occurred to him that it would 
be a fine plan — one that he thought could do no harm to 
any one — to turn the trip to America into a “ wedding jour¬ 
ney.” He had money with which he believed he could go 
into business there, and with unwise reasoning, usual to young 
men in love, he easily convinced himself that the best thing 
he could do was to take a wife with him to America. There¬ 
fore, he arranged with a friend of the young lady’s mother to 
bring them both to Paris. This was done, and soon after they 
were married at the American embassy—he settling a con¬ 
siderable sum on his wife, which was placed in the mother’s 
safe-keeping. The mother returned to England, and the 
newly married pair started on a tour through Spain, taking 
.the steamer at Cadiz for Havana. 

The following dispatch, copied from the London Times , 


THE BEGINNING OF THE END . 201 

will serve to show the beginning of the sequel to his rash but 
lover-like proceedings: 

[Times, April 7,1873.] 

Philadelphia, March 25tU. 

The arrest of Austin Bidwell, another of the persons impli¬ 
cated in the Bank of England forgeries, who was captured at 
Havana, through the agency of the cables, has probably already 
been announced in England. A telegram from Havana states that 
although there is no extradition treaty with England, the authorities 
intend to give Bidwell up and allow him to be taken to London as 
soon as the proper proofs are furnished. 

As soon as Austin and his wife were brought to London, 
she deserted him. 

I again resume the thread of my narrative. It had occu¬ 
pied about two months in making the preparations described 
in the last chapter, and I was still so doubtful as to the possi¬ 
bility that the Bank of England would not discover the 
fraud with the first batch of bills, that I had fully prepared 
only what represented <£4,250. I had preserved the endorse¬ 
ment blocks used in their manufacture, so that in case we 
were disappointed, and the bank really discounted them, we 
could rush up a larger number in a few days. It was exactly 
this doubt which had prevented the accumulation of a suffi¬ 
cient quantity of false bills; for despite the fair look of the 
thing, it was difficult to believe otherwise than that the bank 
had what looked like a vulnerable point guarded in some way 
that had escaped my scrutiny. Besides, I had the Warren 
account with the Bank of England, and the Horton account 
at the Continental Bank. With these simple means I now 
proposed to enter the bomb-proof vaults of the greatest finan¬ 
cial fortress of which history gives account. 

My brother was safely out of England. All was prepared 
for the trial test. 

“ Will the false bills go through? Will the argus eyes of 
the renowned Bank of England detect the imposture at the 
first glance ? ” These and similar questions agitated my 
mind at this juncture. To settle the question, I took the 


202 


PRE CA UT10NAR Y ME AS URES. 


£4,250 in false bills and went to Birmingham. There I 
engaged a room at the Queen’s Hotel, and on paper brought 
with me I wrote in Warren’s name, imitating his hand¬ 
writing, to Mr. Francis, Manager of the Western Branch of 
the Bank of England, the following: 

Birmingham, January 21, 1873. 

Dear Sir: 

I hand you herewith, as per enclosed memorandum, bills for 
discount, the proceeds of which please place to my credit on receipt. 
I remain, dear sir, Yours very truly, 

F. A. Warren. 

On the previous day all the money, except about one hun¬ 
dred pounds, had been drawn out of the London banks, so 
that in case of a discovery that would be the only additional 
loss — the previous preparations having cost about as much 
more. We had also prepared everything for an immediate 
flight in case it should prove a failure. I waited in Birming¬ 
ham until the next day, in order to hear from Mr. Francis, or 
otherwise get a clue as to the fate of the false bills. In case 
the forgery had been discovered, he would doubtless reply to 
the letter all the same, and simultaneously put the Birming¬ 
ham police on the scent, or send a detective from London to 
watch at the post-office and arrest the person who called for 
the letter. Suppose I should be thus arrested ? Mr. Francis 
could not recognize me as otherwise connected with his cus¬ 
tomer, Warren, he never having seen me; but I should have 
been asked some awkward questions, and why I had called 
for Warren’s letters. That I might have even a lame excuse 
ready, I wrote a note as follows: 

Birmingham, January 22, 1873. 

Postmaster: 

Sir, —Please deliver any letters for me to the bearer, and 
oblige p. A. Warren. 

Calling at the post-office, and seeing no sign that it was 
specially watched, I handed in the order, and was given a 


THE FRAUD IN FULL BLAST. 


203 


letter. Had I been arrested, I should have said that I met a 
gentleman on the train and fell into conversation with him, 
and just before arriving at Birmingham he remarked that he 
must continue his journey to Liverpool, and would feel obliged 
to me if I would call for his letters and forward them. 
I hurried to catch the London train, and as soon as I was 
under way I opened the letter, which was to the following 
purport: 

Western Branch of the Bank of England, 
London, January 22, 1873. 

F. A. Warren, Esq., P. 0. Birmingham: 

Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 21st, enclosing £4,250 in bills 
for discount, is received, and proceeds of same passed to your 
credit as requested. Hoping you are recovering from the effects 
of the fall from your horse, and that I may have the pleasure of 
seeing you in London soon, I remain, dear sir, 

Yours faithfully, P. M. Francis. 

On arrival in London, I gave Noyes “Warren” checks for 
£4,000, which he deposited in the Continental Bank to Hor¬ 
ton’s credit. I next filled in and signed Horton checks for 
about £3,000, with which he purchased United States bonds 
from Jay Cooke, M’Culloch & Co., at their banking-house in 
Lombard Street — the Wall Street of London. 

This completed the operation, and as soon as we could 
prepare more false bills we were ready for another of exactly 
the same kind, only on a larger scale — and thus we kept 
repeating until the discovery. 

Thinking that the purchase of such large sums of United 
States bonds from day to day might attract attention, I 
devised another plan, viz.: The forged bills being sent from 
Birmingham by mail, discounted and placed to Warren’s 
credit at the Bank of England, the amount immediately 
transferred to the Horton account at the Continental Bank 
by means of Warren checks — I had Noyes reduce the latter 
account by drawing out Bank of England notes. These were 
taken to the bank and exchanged for gold, which was deliv- 


204 


$50,000 PER DAY. 


ered in sealed bags of <£1,000 each, and immediately carried 
back and exchanged for notes by another person. The object 
of this double exchange was to break the connection, it being 
obligatory that a list of the numbers of all notes paid out, and 
to whom, must be preserved by bankers and other dealers. 
Even when passed from hand to hand, the person who pays 
out a note must endorse on the back of it his or her name 
and address, and this notwithstanding that they are made pay¬ 
able “to bearer” exactly like “greenbacks.” And, indeed, 
the disposal of so much gold without attracting notice was 
one of my chief anxieties — in fact, I found there was such a 
thing as having too much of that useful metal. The reader 
may realize this fact when I state that while the “ business ” 
was in operation our “ income ” was at times more than 
$50,000 per day. 

I cannot refrain from relating, right here, an incident which 
illustrates the folly of “ crowing before one is out of the 
woods,” or “ counting chickens before they are hatched.” 

One evening in January, while the “fraud machine ” was 
in full operation, three stylishly dressed young men met in a 
private parlor of the St. James Hotel, Piccadilly. Two of 
them appeared to be in high spirits — perhaps possessed by 
evil spirits, whom spirits of another kind might conciliate— 
and one of the party called for a bottle of “ Yueve Cliquot” in 
honor of the occasion, the “ golden calf ” having been worshiped 
that day to the jingle of many bags of sovereigns. The elder 
of the trio was in a pensive mood, and was rallied by his hila¬ 
rious companions for his taciturnity, which became more 
marked as their merriment increased. They saw themselves 
safely back in America, the possessors of fortunes, however 
wrongfully obtained, yet obtained in a way that would leave 
behind no ruined widows and orphans to linger out the 
remainder of their blighted lives in poverty. That was a 
point which added zest to their enjoyment of the prospect. 
Being obtained from an institution, into whose impregnable 
vaults flowed the wealth of the world, was a source of inex- 


THE ELDER ROBBER SPEAKS. 


205 


pressible satisfaction to those gentlemanly appearing robbers. 
At last the elder could endure the situation no longer, and 
addressed the party very much as follows: 

“Well, my friends, you believe that nothing can happen 
to hinder the full realization of your hopes, and that you 
are as safe as if you were already off for America; but I 
advise you to moderate your ardor and not be too sanguine — 
too certain. It is true that everything is so arranged, works 
so smoothly, and ourselves shrouded in so dense a fog—a 
London fog—of mystery, that, even in case of a premature 
discovery, they may not be able to reach us or get a clue to 
our personality. 

44 It appears as if the bank managers had heaped a mountain 
of gold out in the street, and had put up a notice, 4 Please do 
not touch this,’ and then had left it unguarded with the guile¬ 
less confidingness of an Arcadian. Who could ever have 
imagined they would have left such an open path to their 
bags of gold ? Thousands of Englishmen have gone out to 
India to 4 shake the Banyan tree/ but this beats that 4 legal ’ 
way of 4 making ’ a fortune out of sight. Despite the smooth 
surface, I have a foreboding that Aeolus is brooding a storm 
that may send our gold-laden bark among the rocks, and our¬ 
selves with it. Negligence or accident will beat the 4 best laid 
plans,’ and we shall have the greatest success or the most 
terrible disaster possible. Let us do no more crowing until 
we are out of the woods.” 

With these words the speaker relapsed into his thoughtful 
mood, and soon after departed, leaving his goblet of Yueve 
Cliquot untasted. 

It was not long after this that a truly laughable incident 
occurred. During our stay in London, it was frequently 
remarked that McDonald bore a strong general resemblance 
to the Prince of Wales. One afternoon Mac and I were 
sauntering past the 44 Horse-Guards,” and as soon as the mag¬ 
nificent sentry (placed on horseback in the gateway) saw us, 
he brought his sword to the salute and kept it there until we 


206 


THE VERY LAST LOT. 


were past. Exactly who he took me for has ever since been 
— not a casus belli —but a subject of curious cogitations — 
especially when in prison, writing petitions to the Home Office 
for my release — whether I should not refer the secretary of 
State to the sentry, in order to prove satisfactorily that I 
was a “ somebody.” 

On the 27th day of February my associate and myself 
had a consultation as to whether we should stop with what 
we had, or put in one more batch of bills. It was finally 
decided to put in another, and the very last lot. In thus tak¬ 
ing the pitcher once too often to the well, too little account 
was taken of two all-important points — neglect of business 
and the possibility of accidents, the latter, of course, usu¬ 
ally arising out of the former. Early the next day I posted 
in Birmingham to the Bank more than $100,000 in false bills, 
congratulating myself that the affair was so nearly finished, 
and that the next day I should be off for America. When 
these bills were mailed the balance in both banks had been 
reduced to less than a thousand pounds. 

Remaining in Birmingham, early the next morning I sent 
a cabman to the post-office with an order for letters addressed 
to Warren, and kept a watch on him to see if he was followed 
from the office. After satisfying myself that he was not being 
“ shadowed,” I got from him the letter, which was from Mr. 
Francis; stating that the bills had been received, discounted, 
and the proceeds placed to the credit of the Warren account. * 
Of course, this was the last of a number of letters from Mr. 
Francis, which had been received by me during the progress 
of the affair, and as each came to hand I could not repress a 
feeling of regret that by the irony of fate I seemed destined, 
in the execution of u speculations,” to abuse the confidence of 
some of the best of men. The fact that, as in the present 
instance, I was taking no advantage of facilities afforded by a 
position of trust — Mr. Francis never having seen me—was 
the excuse with which I had always, in such cases, tried to 
salve my conscience. 



FEELING OF THE BANK. 207 

The letter in question satisfied me that our false bills had 
gone through the mill, and would be laid away in the vaults 
of the bank to be forgotten until they should become due 
two months later; and thus it would have been, but for an 
unforeseen occurrence to be related shortly. I hurried 
to the station, and taking a train arrived in London by the 


garraway’s. 

time the banks were open for business. In order to be 
certain that all was right before sending Noyes into the Con¬ 
tinental Bank, I gave him a check for a small amount, which 
he sent in by a commissioner for collection, with order to 
bring the money to him at the Cannon Street Hotel. I took 









































208 


AN ANCIENT HOSTEL. 


care to be in the bank when he arrived, that I might see what 
passed. The check was paid without demur, and he left the 
bank, I keeping him in view until he had passed the public 
house where Noyes was waiting for me. I hastened in and 
told him to go and get the money from the commissioner, 
which he did, then come to meet me at Garraway’s, our usual 
place of rendezvous. Inasmuch as many generations of all 
nations visiting London, have been accustomed to resort to 
Garraway’s coffee-house, for pleasure or business purposes, 
and as it was closed for the last time on Saturday, August 
11, 1876, a picture of this celebrated place may be of interest 
to the reader. 

At the time of the “ South-Sea bubble,” Dean Swift wrote 
the following lines regarding the brokers and their victims, 
the speculators, who were accustomed to congregate at 
Garraway’s : 

There is a gulf where thousands fell, 

Here all the bold adventurers came, 

A narrow sound, though deep as hell — 

Change-alley is the dreadful name. 

Subscribers here by thousands float, 

And jostle one another down, 

Each paddling in his leaky boat, 

And here they fish for gold and drown. 

* * * * 

Meantime, secure on Garway cliffs, 

A savage race, by shipwrecks fed, 

Lie waiting for the founder’d skiffs,. 

And strip the bodies of the dead. 

Dr. Radcliffe, a celebrated character, was a rash specula¬ 
tor in the South-Sea scheme, and could always be found dur¬ 
ing business hours planted at a table, to watch the turns of 
the share market, and to receive his patients, as was the 
custom in the last century with coffee-houses in general. 
One day he had invested five thousand guineas in one project, 
and upon being informed that he had lost it all, replied: 


























































































































































































































































































































































































✓ 




















































“CHOPS AND TOMATO SAUCE” 


209 


“ Why, ’tis but going up five thousand pairs of stairs more.” 
“ This answer,” says Sydney Smith, “ deserves a statue.” 

Coming down to later times, we find in Dickens’s “ Pick¬ 
wick Club,” where Sergeant Buzfuz, in the case of Bardell vs. 
Pickwick, quotes the following letter: 

Garraway’s, twelve o’clock. 
Dear Mrs. B.: — Chops and tomato sauce. 

Yours, Pickwick. 

As some of my readers may be in a Pickwickian state of 
mind on the food question, I will reserve the account of the 
discovery of the great fraud, and the arrest of Noyes, for the 
next chapter. 



14 


Chapter XXI. 


THE FRAUD DISCOVERED —NOYES ARRESTED — A CLEARANCE — AN IMPORTANT 
PIECE OF BLOTTING PAPER — FLIGHT OF MCDONALD — EXAMINATION OF NOYES 
AT THE MANSION HOUSE BEFORE LORD MAYOR WATERLOW—THE BANK SOLICI¬ 
TOR, C. K. FRESHFIELD, M. P. — DR. KENEALY. 


T appears that when the last lot of bills arrived from 



Birmingham they were handed by the manager, as usual, 
to a clerk whose duty it was to look over and enter them in 
the books. In running them over, he threw out two on 
which the date of the acceptance had not been put. Suppos¬ 
ing this to have been an oversight of the acceptors, no notice 
was taken of the irregularity beyond laying the bills aside, 
that the supposed neglect might be rectified. Accordingly, on 
the morning of the 1st of March, 1873, the bills were sent to 
B. W. Blydenstein (the supposed acceptor), and were at once 
declared to be forgeries. Instant measures were taken to 
arrest the perpetrators. This occurred just after we had sent 
the commissioner with a Horton check as related in the last 
chapter. 

Upon meeting Noyes at Garraway’s I gave him Warren 
checks for seventy-five thousand dollars, with which he pur¬ 
chased United States bonds from Messrs. Jay Cooke & Co. I 
also gave him about thirty thousand dollars in Warren checks 
to deposit to the credit of the Horton account. After hav¬ 
ing accomplished that business, it only remained for him to 
withdraw the money from the Horton account, which would 
finish, and we be ready to leave the country with our booty. 

A quarter of an hour would end my anxieties! 

It had been my intention to send a commissioner to draw 
the money, so that in the apparently impossible case of a dis- 


( 210 ) 



THE TROUBLE COMMENCES. 


211 

eovery Noyes would be safe from arrest. Should there be a 
premature “ tumble ” and we become aware of it in time, we 
could easily get him out of the country — he being the only 
one who was known to the bankers. But having just visited 
Jay Cooke & Co. and the Continental Bank, he justly felt cer¬ 
tain that all was right, and thought it would be best, and 
quite safe, for him to go and do the business in person instead 
of sending a commissioner. 

We had previously sent commissioners for large sums in 
bonds, etc.; but in such cases they had acted only as mes¬ 
sengers, not knowing the value of the packages they carried. 
The checks we had sent by them were for small sums, and 
now to send one to draw 180,000 might cause inquiry at the 
Continental Bank. For these reasons I concluded to let 
Noyes have his own way. Had I known what was at that 
moment passing not a stone’s throw from where we sat in 
Garraway’s, my thoughts would have been of quite a different 
nature. After the discovery, as related, the telegraph was 
set to work, and detectives procured from the Bow Street 
police station, which was but a short distance from where we 
sat discussing our next and last move — the last indeed! 
They went to the Continental, Horton’s bank, and waited to 
meet Noyes as he came in about one o’clock p. m. to draw the 
money. He was arrested and taken to Bow Street station, 
the party passing close by me on the way, of course neither 
Noyes or I taking any notice of each other. As I had fore¬ 
seen and provided for this possible contingency, the occur¬ 
rence did not alarm me, for I knew that if all my precautions 
had been lived up to , no harm beyond temporary inconvenience 
could come to Noyes, and not the slightest clue be obtained 
to connect Mac or myself with the fraud. Austin, the only 
other one known to the bankers, was, as I supposed, safe 
in the United States; therefore, as I felt secure that no infor¬ 
mation would be got out of Noyes, all we had to do was to lie 
quietly in London until the furore of excitement was a little 
cooled, and then to make our way out of the country at our 


212 


AN ILL-TIMED REMOVAL. 


leisure. Notwithstanding these seemingly impregnable 
plans and precautions, and as a striking example of how 
crime comes to light, it will be interesting to have the causes 
which nullified the execution of the ideas outlined in the last 
sentence. 

During the operation Mac occupied lodgings in an aristo¬ 
cratic quarter, St. James Place, Piccadilly. There all the bills 
were made. When the last lot was ready, I made away with 
and destroyed by burning or otherwise, the articles used in 
their manufacture. 

As soon as Noyes was arrested, I went to Mac’s rooms and 
made a clearance. As I was about to put all the waste 
papers in the fire Mac said he had some letters to write and 
asked me to leave a piece of blotting paper. I selected a 
piece that appeared not to have been used and laid it aside for 
him — a fatal concession, as will be seen in the account of the 
trial, showing what telling use was made of it. I was less 
particular in the clearance because when I represented to him 
the danger of an American moving from his lodgings at such 
a juncture, he agreed to remain quietly there. Then judge of 
my astonishment later in the day, when he said to me at Gar- 
raway’s: “Well, Pve got all my things out of that place, 
anyway.” It was too late to repair so false a step, and he 
assured me that he had not left a scrap of paper behind. Sub¬ 
sequent events showed that his landlady saw in a paper an 
account of the forgery and arrest of Noyes, and coupling it 
with her lodger’s precipitate flight — he having previously 
given no notice of his intention to leave — her suspicions were 
aroused; she went directly to the rooms and gathered up 
every loose bit of paper she could find, among which the only 
thing that proved of special value was the piece of blotting 
paper, and sent word to the police station. 

Mac paid the penalty of this thoughtless act as this piece of 
blotter proved to be the principal, if not the only direct link, 
which connected him with the forgery. 

I had occasion to part from Mac for an hour, and on my 


MACS FLIGHT . 


213 


return at about six p. M., found a note written by him, stating 
that he had just time to catch the last evening train for Dover. 
He really went to Liverpool; but becoming suspicious, doubled 
on the police, ran to Chester, from there crossed the country 
by way of Taunton to Southampton, crossed to Havre, from 
which place he managed to get on board the steamship 
Thuringia , and sailed for New York. 



MANSION HOUSE, ILLUMINATED. 


This unexpected departure disconcerted my plans com¬ 
pletely. The effect it had on my future proceedings will be 
detailed in the chapters relating to my flight through Ireland, 
and beyond. 






214 NOYES BEFORE THE LORD MAYOR. 

The following regarding the discovery of the fraud, arrest, 
and examination of Noyes, is compiled from reliable sources. 

It was on Saturday, March 1, 1873, that Noyes was 
arrested and taken to the Mansion House. The ordinary 
business of the day had concluded at twelve o’clock, but 
about two o’clock Noyes was brought to the bar on the charge 
of having been concerned in the forgeries in question. 

The Lord Mayor Waterlow had not then taken his seat, 
and few people were present, except the officers and a few 
stragglers. On the Lord Mayor taking his seat, he stated 
that there were reasons for hearing the charge in private, and 

he therefore re¬ 
quested, under a 
power given him 
by statute, that 
everyone not con¬ 
nected with the 
case would retire 
from court. Upon 
this the reporters, 
for whom the inti¬ 
mation seemed spe¬ 
cially intended, 
withdrew in a body. 
The charge was 
then proceeded 
with, and sufficient 
evidence was pro- 

C. K. FRESHFIELD, M. P., (lb tl 

SOLICITOR TO THE BANK OF ENGLAND IN 1873. ( 11 C e Y G 

Messrs. Freshfield, 

who appeared on the part of the Bank of England, to warrant 
the Lord Mayor in remanding the prisoner until the next Fri¬ 
day, when the evidence taken at the first hearing was allowed 
to transpire without reservation of any kind as part of the case 
lor the prosecution, and the prisoner’s counsel had opportu¬ 
nities offered him of cross-examining witnesses who had given 



THE EXAMINATION. 


215 


ft. A contemporary account states that since his arrest a 
week previously he had much altered in appearance for the 
wors'e; and throughout the protracted examination of March 
7th, he seemed anxious and dejected. 

The Lord Mayor took his seat in the justice-room at 
twelve o’clock, and on that date the prisoner was put to the 
bar. Mr. Freshfield, the solicitor to the bank, attended to 
conduct the prosecution on the part of the Governor and Com¬ 
pany ; the prisoner was defended by Dr. Kenealy, Q. C. 

Mr. Alfred D. Rothschild, one of the directors of the bank, 
occupied a seat on the bench. Mr. Frank May, the deputy 
cashier of the Bank of England, said that from inquiries 
he found that some portions of the proceeds of the forged 
bills had been paid into the Continental Bank in Lombard 
Street, and in consequence he went to that bank on Satur¬ 
day to obtain further information. He there saw the pris¬ 
oner, and gave him into 
custody. 

He asked the manager 
of the Continental Bank, in 
the prisoner’s presence, if 
the prisoner was Mr. Hor¬ 
ton’s clerk, and he replied in 
the affirmative. The pris¬ 
oner then said, “ Why are. 
you giving me into cus¬ 
tody?” Witness told him 
that he came from the Bank 
of England and he charged 
him with fraud. 

Mr. Richard Amery, 
ledger-keeper at the Con¬ 
tinental Bank, said he knew the prisoner by the name of 
Edwin Noyes. He also knew a Mr. C. J. Horton, who had 
an account at the bank. The prisoner was in the habit of 
bringing cash to be paid to Mr. Horton’s credit, and also of 
presenting Horton’s checks to be cashed. 



216 


PROS AND CONS. 


In reply to Dr. Kenealy, the witness, Mr. Amery, said he 
only knew the prisoner as Horton’s clerk, and as either paying- 
in or cashing checks on his account; and Col. Francis stated, 
that he never saw the prisoner until the day upon which he 
was given into custody. Dr. Kenealy, addressing the bench, 
said he wanted to know with what offense Mr. Noyes, the 
prisoner, was charged. Mr. Oke, the chief clerk to the Lord 
Mayor, replied that he was charged with fraudulently obtain¬ 
ing <£4,500 by means of documents alleged to have been 
forged, and by conspiring with other persons, at present 
unknown, with intent to defraud the Governor and Company 
of the Bank of England. A letter was about to be read, upon 
which Dr. Kenealy objected unless there was evidence to show 
that it had been brought to the knowledge of Mr. Noyes. Mr. 
Freshfield said it was an act on the part of a co-conspirator. 
Dr. Kenealy submitted that the prosecution must first estab¬ 
lish a conspiracy. On the occasion when the prisoner was 
first brought before the court he understood the case against 
him was heard in camera. He protested against such a 
course being resorted to while trying a man upon a criminal 
charge. They were not going to have the Inquisition in this 
country, and he submitted that the trying a prisoner in camera 
was a relic of the Inquisition. The Lord Mayor explained 
that in the exercise of his discretion, and availing himself of 
the power given him as a magistrate under Jervis’s act, he 
had decided that the preliminary investigation should be heard 
in private. The prisoner had then been in custody only a few 
hours; there was at that time reason to believe that an enor¬ 
mous fraud had been committed, and that the ends of justice 
might be frustrated if the circumstances were made public 
at the first hearing. He had exercised his discretion in the 
matter, the prisoner’s counsel had since heard the evidence 
taken on the first occasion and was now in a position to 
appreciate and use it. Although the prisoner was not repre¬ 
sented by a counsel on the first occasion, the Lord Mayor 
took good care in the discharge of his duty to see that he was 


HORTON'S CLERK. 


217 


in no way prejudiced by the manner in which the investiga¬ 
tion was conducted. He would be ultimately charged with 
conspiring with one Horton, otherwise Warren. Dr. Kenealy 
replied, that according to that theory any merchant’s clerk in 
the city of London might any day be subjected to the same 
treatment that Mr. Noyes had experienced. 

He protested against it until a conspiracy had been estab¬ 
lished between Noyes and Warren. Mr. Noyes, in the trans¬ 
actions in question, had done nothing more than cash genuine 
checks for his master, and why he should be assumed to have 
been concerned in a forgery he was at a loss to understand. 
The Lord Mayor said it was clear by the evidence that he had 
cashed checks which were the products of those forgeries. 

Jonathan Pope, a city policeman, spoke as to the prisoner 
having been given into his custody on Saturday preceding at 
the Continental Bank, and to finding upon him at the police 
station an open check for £100, drawn by Horton on the Con¬ 
tinental Bank, two bank-notes for £100 and £10 in gold, a 
gold watch and chain, a diamond ring, and a number of 
memoranda. 

Detective Sargeant Spittle, who was recalled by Dr. 
Kenealy, said he had looked over the papers found upon the 
prisoner, and among them was an agreement entered into 
in January between him and Horton, by which he became 
Horton’s clerk and manager at a salary of £100 a year. He 
appeared to have paid £300 to Horton as a premium. He 
also found a number of letters addressed to the prisoner and 
referring to an advertisement for a clerk’s situation which he 
had inserted in the daily Telegraph. There were likewise 
among the papers several letters important to the prisoner. 
In one of these letters referred to by the witness, dated the 
28th of January, Horton told the prisoner to give up his room 
at the Bridge-House Hotel and to take another on the first 
floor at the Cannon Street Hotel, and advised him to obtain a 
trusty porter whom he could send with deposits to the banks, 
and with stocks or bonds to the offices of Messrs. Jay Cooke 


218 


LETTERS. 


& Co. and Messrs. Clews, Habicht & Co. He added that as 
soon as he got settled in his chambers he would engage 
another clerk so that he (Noyes) should not have so much 
running about. Another letter was as follows : 

London. 

E. Noyes, Esq.: 

Dear Sir : — I shall be unable to come to the office to-morrow 
as I shall be very busy at the West End, and will not be able to 
come as far as London Bridge, so you can go on with the business 
just as 1 told you, and do not fail to collect the money and bring it 
with you to Broad Street station at three o’clock, and meet me in 
the first-class waiting room, or down at the ticket office at the foot 
of the stairs. I will then give you further instructions. 

I am yours, etc., 

C. J. Horton. 

All the above devices and documents were pre-arranged by 
me for just the emergency in which Noyes then found him¬ 
self, and they would have proved ample to protect him, had 
no others of the party been arrested — our arrest affording the 
opportunity to prove previous acquaintance. 

At this stage Mr. Freshfield applied to the bench to have 
the prisoner remanded for a week. The evidence he said, 
went to show that he had been dealing with very large sums 
of money and acting almost in the character of a principal, 
certainly in that of an accomplice. Dr. Kenealy submitted 
there was no evidence whatever against Mr. Noyes, and that 
the Lord Mayor was bound to dismiss him. There was no 
proof that Warren and Horton were the same person. It was 
impossible to come to any other conclusion than that they 
were distinct. There was evidence that Noyes was a clerk to 
Horton and that he was never seen in the branch Bank of 
England at the West End. The only person who spoke of 
seeing the prisoner was a clerk of the Messrs. McCulloch, and 
that was at their place of business. What had Mr. Noyes 
done more than any clerk of a merchant in the city? It 
might be assumed that bills proved afterward to be forgeries 
often passed through the hands of innocent people who had no 


REMANDED TO NEWGATE. 


219 


knowledge of the risk they run. The learned counsel dwelt 
upon the circumstances as proved by papers found upon him, 
that Noyes had advertised for a situation as clerk on coming 
to this country from America, in December last, and that he 
had no previous acquaintance with Horton. Was it likely 
that if Horton was about to embark in a gigantic fraud he 
would take a perfect stranger into his confidence ? Dealing 
with the evidence as it stood, he submitted there was only one 
transaction between them and that was not of a nature to 
justify his detention. Mr. Freshfield said Dr. Kenealy must 
not assume that he agreed with him in that at all. The Lord 
Mayor said, looking at the evidence as it stood, he could not 
take any other course than remand the prisoner, having 
regard to the circumstance that he was found dealing on one 
day with money amounting to £ 22,000, the produce of forged 
bills, and that a letter was found upon him asking him to 
bring the money to a person whom he would find in the first- 
class waiting-room at a railway station. He could not come 
to any other conclusion than that the prisoner must have 
known the moneys with which he was dealing had been 
acquired by unlawful means. He remanded him until that 
day week to his old quarters in Newgate. 






Chapter XXII. 


HUNTED THROUGH IRELAND — $ 2,500 REWARD FOR MY CAPTURE — DETECTIVES 
“SPOT ” ME AT THE CORK RAILWAY STATION — OBLIGED TO ABANDON TAKING 
PASSAGE BY THE ILL-FATED ATLANTIC — A GAME OF “ HARE AND HOUNDS ” — 
ELUDING A DETECTIVE “TRAP”—ENGLISH MISRULE IN IRELAND — AM TAKEN 
FOR A PRIEST — A TYPOGRAPHICAL THUNDERBOLT AT LISMORE — AN EARLY 
MORNING WALK — A RIDE ON AN IRISH JAUNTING-CAR — “ ON THE ROAD TO 
CLONMEL” — SHELTER IN A “SHEBEEN” — HOW THIRSTY SOULS GET THE 
“CRAYTHUR” IN IRELAND — A GOOD OLD IRISH LADY—PURSUIT, AND REFUGE 
IN A RUINED COTTAGE AT CAHIR. 

W ITHOUT the remotest suspicion that my right name 
was known, or that anything had been discovered to 
show my connection with the fraud, I resolved to take the 
steamer Atlantic of the White Star Line, at Queenstown, for 
New York. Knowing that all the railway stations in London 
were being watched, and that any man buying a ticket for 
America might have to give an account of himself, I sent a 
porter to purchase a ticket for Dublin via Holyhead. I in¬ 
tended taking the 9 P. M. mail train, and, as a precaution, I 
waited until the last moment, after the passengers were on 
board and the waiting-room doors shut. As the mail was 
being transferred from the wagons to the train, I took the 
opportunity to walk through the big gate unobserved amid 
the rush and confusion. The car doors were all locked, but 
on showing my ticket to a guard (conductor) he let me into 
a compartment, no doubt supposing that I had obtained 
admission to the station from the waiting-room and had been 
loitering about. The same was probably the case with the 
two or three other men looking out of the waiting-room win¬ 
dow at the platform, whom I judged to be detectives. The 
train rolled out of the station, and soon I was leaving London 

( 220 ) 



ALMOST “CORKED: 


221 


behind at the rate of fifty miles an hour. After midnight we 
took the steamer at Holyhead and arrived at Dublin about 
seven a. m. I should not have felt so comfortable throughout 
this night’s journey had I known that the telegraph was flash¬ 
ing in all directions: 

“£500 reward for the capture of George Bidwell, who is sup¬ 
posed to be one of the persons engaged in the great bank forgery. 
He is an American, about forty years of age, of dark complexion, 
and is supposed to be in Ireland.” 

A whole column regarding myself and my transactions was 
published in the Dublin papers of that morning. Not suspect¬ 
ing they contained “news” regarding me, I neglected pur¬ 
chasing one, and remaining ignorant of my imminent danger, 
took the train for Cork, where I arrived about four p. M. I had 
two or three London papers of the previous day in my hand 
as I left the station. I had never been in Cork until then, 
and as I passed into the street two detectives, who were 
watching the passengers, turned and followed me. A few 
yards from the station one of them stepped up by my side 
and said: 

“ Have you ever been here before ? ” 

I slightly turned my head toward him, gave a haughty 
glance as I replied, “Yes,” —then looked straight ahead 
and continued my slow gait, paying no further attention to 
him. He continued walking by my side for a few steps, as if 
irresolute, then dropped to the rear, rejoining his companion. 
I did not dare to look around, or make inquiry as to the 
location of the wharf from which the tug-boat started to con¬ 
vey mail and passengers to the New York steamers, which 
waited in the outer harbor. Therefore I continued my walk 
along what appeared to be the main business street, perhaps 
for a quarter of a mile, then turned into a druggist’s and 
called for some Spanish licorice. This was done to enable 
me to ascertain if the detectives were still following. In a 
moment they passed the shop gazing intently in, and saw me 
leaning carelessly against the counter with my face partially 


222 


NOT BORN TO BE DROWNED. 


turned to the street. As soon as I had paid for the licorice, 
I continued my walk in the same direction, but saw nothing 
of the men, they having evidently stopped in some place to 
let me get ahead once more. In a short time I approached 
an inclosure, over the gate of which was a sign that informed 
me I had come by accident direct to the wharf of the New 
York steamers. Entering I found the place crowded, and the 
tug-boat ready to convey the passengers to the steamer Atlan¬ 
tic. Before attempting to step aboard the tug I took a covert 
look around and saw my two detectives standing back in one 
corner with their eyes fixed upon me all but their heads being 
concealed behind the crowd waiting to see their friends off 
for America. Apparently unconscious of their presence, I 
threw my papers, one by one down among the passengers; 
and as the deck of the boat was eight or ten feet below, the 
detectives could not see to whom they were thrown. I stood 
leaning on the rail a short time gazing at the scene, then left 
the wharf not even glancing in the direction of the detectives. 
I felt that any attempt of mine to embark would precipitate 
their movements, therefore I at once abandoned all ideas of 
taking passage from Queenstown. 

Now mark the irony of fate! That was the last passage 
ever made by the magnificent steamer Atlantic ! Some mag¬ 
netic influence deranged her compass so that she ran twenty 
miles out of her course, striking on the coast of Nova Scotia, 
at Meager’s Head, Prospect Harbor, broke in two, then rolling 
into deep water, sank in a few minutes. Out of 1002 persons 
on board 560 perished, including most of the saloon passen¬ 
gers and all the women and children. The elegant cabins 
and state-rooms became their tombs — and one might have 
been mine. But not for me such favoring fate; a moment’s 
struggle ended their sufferings, while I was left to undergo 
the pangs of a thousand deaths! 

I continued my walk up a hill among the private resi¬ 
dences of the city, and hailing a cab told the driver to take 
me back to the station. Eager for a job, he asked to drive 


A PRETTY GIRL SAYS “NO.” 


223 


me a mile beyond on the railway. Thinking I might elude 
the detectives at the Queenstown station, I acceded and he 
made his little Irish horse rush along at a pace which brought 
us to the stopping-place just before the train arrived. 

I purchased a ticket and hastened into a carriage, where, 
lo and behold! sat the two detectives. A few minutes brought 
us to Cork again. I was not yet aware they were in possession 
of my right name and the knowledge that a reward of five 
hundred pounds was offered for my capture, nor that their 
hesitation was occasioned by doubts as to my identity, which 
the first false step on my part might remove. I did not sup¬ 
pose they were looking especially for me, but for any one in 
general whose actions and appearance might indicate that he 
was one of the operators in the bank forgery. Under this 
erroneous belief, I crossed to the Dublin station, which was a 
quarter of a mile from that of the Cork and Queenstown, to 
inquire for a dispatch that I expected from London to the 
name of Bodell. When I stepped up to the telegraph-counter 
and gave the name, the pretty girl in charge looked at me in 
a very “ speaking ” manner, and without making examination 
replied, “ No.” As I turned away, I saw my two detectives 
standing at the other side of the room.. “Well,” I thought 
to myself, “ this is very strange; I left the Queenstown sta¬ 
tion ahead of them, and here they are again, all alive.” I 
walked away into the most thronged streets of the business 
part of the city; turning a corner, I glanced backwards and 
saw them following at some distance in the rear. As soon 
as I had fairly turned the corner, I started at a fast walk', 
turning the next before they came in view; and after three or 
four such turnings I went into a small temperance hotel and 
took lodgings for the night. There was but a single com¬ 
mercial traveler in the sitting-room—a special room set apart 
in every English hotel, sacred to the “ drummer ” fraternity. 
In the course of the evening he handed me a small railway 
map of Ireland, which, in my subsequent flight through the 
country, proved of incalculable service to me. 


224 A SCOTCH CAP AND AN IRISH CAR. 

The next morning I went out and purchased a hand-bag, 
a Scotch cap, and a cheap, frieze ulster. My night’s cogita¬ 
tions had not enabled me to solve the detective problem, but 
I felt confident that something was decidedly wrong. I then 
hired a covered cab, driving past the post-office to reconnoiter, 
and saw one of the detectives standing in the door-way. This 
sight deterred me from going in to ask for a letter. Dismiss¬ 
ing my cab, I took another and drove to the place where I 
had made my purchases, taking them into the cab, and going 
through a by-street which brought me close to my hotel. 

From the commercial-room in the second floor front, I 
looked out and marked the farthest house I could see to the 
left, on the opposite side. Stepping to the desk, I wrote an 
order directing the postmaster to deliver any letters to my 
(Bodell’s) address to the bearer. This I gave to a cabman, 
instructing him to drive to the post-office and bring my mail 
to the house I had marked, returning myself to the commer¬ 
cial-room to watch. In a few minutes I saw the cabman 
drive to the house, and seeing no one waiting there, he turned 
and drove slowly down the street past the hotel, holding up 
at arm’s length a letter to attract my notice—which it did to 
my two detectives walking along a short distance behind him, 
on the hotel side of the street, with noses elevated and eyes 
peering everywhere. 

“ Well,” I thought, “this is getting to be hot, and it is 
time for me to ‘skip’ Cork.” I was now fully aroused to a 
sense of my danger. No one happening to be in the com¬ 
mercial-room for the moment, I left my hat on the sofa, and 
wearing the Scotch cap, slipped downstairs just as they were 
past the hotel, following them until I came to where the cab 
was waiting with my luggage. I ordered the driver to take 
me to a canal-boat wharf, where I dismissed him; then, with 
bag in hand, I walked across the canal bridge, stopped in a 
small shop and hired a smaller boy to go for a jaunting-car, 
and a few minutes later I was rolling to the northward. 

On the road I threw some small coins to poor-looking 


RESULTS OF ENGLISH OPPRESSION. 225 

people, who then, as now, comprised among their numbers 
the most honest patriots and the truest-hearted sons of Erin. 
While gazing upon the mud huts and turf cottages which 
constituted, with but few exceptions, the abiding-places of a 
poverty-stricken people, I could not help apostrophizing thus: 
“ To what a state of degradation has not English misrule and 
oppression, long continued, brought the noble Celtic race? 
Doubtless over this very road many a humble Irish peasant 
has been hunted to the death at a time when it was only 
necessary for his English murderer to offer in defense, before 
a jury composed of his own countrymen, that he had only 
killed an Irishman; where life was no more valued by the 
English of that time than are now the lives of the convicts 
in the English prisons.” How low that valuation is may be 
judged by the words spoken to me by the chief warder of 
Dartmoor prison, in 1877: “We think no more of killing a 
v convict than we do of killing a dog; indeed, we value the life 
of a good dog above that of a convict.” 

Seeing me throwing the pence to the poor folk, cabby took 
it into his head that I must be a priest — a good criterion of 
the estimation in which the benevolence of the Fathers is held 
by their own people. And I may here remark that all the 
Catholic priests I have known, occupying the post of chaplain 
to the convicts of that religion, were without exception faith¬ 
ful and entirely devoted to the duties of their holy calling, 
speaking fearlessly to the authorities whenever Catholic pris¬ 
oners were being wrongly treated by the warders. I had no 
intention of traveling as a priest, and when I told the driver 
as much he would not believe it, but insisted that I was really 
a priest traveling incognito; therefore, when we stopped at a 
small, wayside tavern, about twelve miles from Cork and two 
to Fermoy, he privately informed the mistress that I was a 
priest who did not want the fact to become known. Accord¬ 
ingly the good woman treated me with marked attention 
during my short stay. It was then nearly sunset, and as I 
did not wish the cabman to get back to Coxk until late at 
15 


226 


A " cour DE TONNERRE.' 


night, I kept him eating and drinking until dark, when I paid 
the bill and started him homeward, uproariously rejoicing. I 
then started for Fermoy station, about two miles distant, 
taking the hostler along to carry my bag. When within 
half a mile of the village I let him return. While passing 
through the village I went into a shop and purchased a differ¬ 
ent Scotch cap, the “ Glengary.” 

Arriving at the station, I noticed a man near the ticket- 
office who appeared to be watching those who were purchasing 
tickets. This made me change my plan — instead of taking 
a ticket to Dublin, I bought one for Lismore, the end of the 
road in the opposite direction. The exclamation, “ Well, are 
you going to stay all night ? ” was the first intimation I had 
of our arrival at that place. I rubbed my sleepy eyes, and 
saw with dismay that all the passengers were gone, and one 
of the porters was putting out the lights. At the platform I 
found a cab, and by nine p. m. I was at the Lismore House. 

After eating supper I entered the sitting-room, finding a 
single occupant whom I took to be a lawyer; and, judging by 
his conversation and manner, in the light of later events, I 
do not doubt that he surmised who I was. He was reading a 
newspaper, which he once or twice offered to me; but not 
dreaming of the interesting nature of its contents, I declined 
to take it from him. About ten P. m. the gentleman retired, 
leaving his paper on the table. I carelessly picked it up, and 
the first thing that caught my eyes was a displayed heading 
in large type: 

500 pounds reward for the capture of George Bid well, who is 
in Ireland. He cannot escape, for all the stations are watched and 
the seaports guarded. The whole constabulary and detective force 
of the country are after him (etc.) 

A thunderbolt, indeed! For a few minutes I stared at 
the paper in blank dismay. It was fortunate for my tem¬ 
porary safety that there were no witnesses present. “ Well,” 
I thought to myself, “ this is a predicament! How did they 


“PARALYZED” 


227 


obtain my right name? I thought I had covered up the 
whole affair so deep in mystery that not a clue to our per¬ 
sonality could be obtained; and here in this paper appears 
the whole business as correctly as if I had told them myself! 
There has been carelessness or treachery somewhere! ” 

I sat for an hour alone in this Lismore Hotel, utterly 
dumbfounded, bewildered, paralyzed. I had experienced 
some shocks, some “ take-downs,” in my time, but never 
one to compare with this. After priding myself in having 
laid a plan and managed an operation to lighten the plethoric 
money-bags of the most gigantic financial institution in all 
the world — one that never has less than $60,000,000 in its 
impregnable vaults — an institution which boasted that its 
system of transacting business had become so perfect that 
it was secure from the attempts of the designing, yet had 
permitted me and my assistants to carry off its bags of gold 
ad libitum , — here I was in such a fix, and everything sup¬ 
posed to have been so carefully hidden, so deeply buried, that 
nothing less than superhuman genius could unearth it, had 
come to the surface as by the touch of a magic wand in the 
hands of a prestidigitateur. 

Arousing myself from a state of mental stupefaction 
hitherto unknown, I began to realize the necessity of imme¬ 
diate action if I wished to avoid falling into the merciless jaws 
of the British Lion. I put the paper into the fire, and retired 
to the room allotted to me. For the first time I fully real¬ 
ized how far I had departed from the principles inculcated by 
my father and mother. For the first time I saw myself on 
the verge of the yawning gulf toward which I had been almost 
imperceptibly gliding ever since the day of my fatal meeting 
with Frank Kibbe in Baltimore. 

Before daylight in the morning I had decided upon the 
first step, and as the lawyer had asked me if I intended to 
remain over Sunday, I resolved to be as far away as possible 
before he was out of bed. While it was yet dark in the house, 
I left my bag in the bedroom and crept gently down the stairs 


228 BEHIND A BLOODED IRISH HORSE. 

to the basement, where the porter-hostler was sleeping in a 
box of rags. I suppose the poor wretch had not long finished 
his multifarious duties, for 1 could arouse him only to a state 
of semi-consciousness, and could get no information from 
him. I then went up to the front door, carefully turned the 
key and stepped out on the piazza which ran along the front 
of the hotel. Another shock was in store for me. A man 
posted on the other side of the street was watching the hotel! 

It was now quite light, and I sauntered carelessly up the 
street, apparently taking no notice of the man over the way, 
and endeavoring to show by my actions that I was out for an 
airing before breakfast. 

As I turned the next corner and glanced back, I saw him 
following. I noticed a place where jaunting-cars were to be 
let, but passed on, at each turn glancing back to see my fol¬ 
lower the same distance in the rear. I now took a circuit 
around by the hotel, but instead of going in, I hastened and 
turned the next corner beyond— he, when reaching the corner 
near the hotel, not seeing me, doubtless thought I had gone 
in, and planted himself in his old position. I thought Lis- 
more to be getting rather hot, and hastening to the livery 
stable, found the hostler just getting up. He informed me 
that all the horses were engaged for the day (Sunday, March 
9, 1873) except one, the fastest they had, but as this was 
engaged for a long journey on Tuesday, they were letting him 
have a rest. I said : “ But, my good fellow, I must have a 

horse, and at once, with you to drive, and there will be a half 
sovereign for a good Irishman, such as I see before me.” My 
“ blarney ” began to do its work. Scratching his head, he 
finally said: “ Well, I will waken up my master, and you can 
talk with him.” So he rapped at a window, and soon a 
night-capped head appeared, and after some parley the master 
consented to let me his equipage. In a few minutes from the 
time I had lost sight of my follower we were rattling out of 
the town of Lismore at the full speed of a blooded Irish horse. 
1 had left my bag behind, taking only the Scotch caps and 


WET OUT-DOORS AND “WET” INSIDE. 229 

ulster with me from the hotel. I found, by reference to the 
small map and railway guide, that Clonmel was less than 
thirty miles distant, and connected with Dublin by a branch 
line. When I engaged the jaunting-car, I had told the owner 
that it was uncertain what part of the day I should require it, 
and after we were about five miles from Lismore I said to the 
driver: 

“ You say that you are going to Clonmel on Tuesday for a 
passenger. Well, now, as I must go there before I leave this 
part of the country, you may as well continue in that direc¬ 
tion, and I can return with you on Tuesday.” 

This pleased him, and we drove on till about noon, when 
we stopped at a country grocery about five miles from Clon¬ 
mel. As we drove up to the door, the words of an old Irish 
song went jingling through my brain: 

“ At the sign of the bell, 

On the road to Clonmel, 

Pat Flagherty kept a neat shebeen.” 

The rain poured down in torrents. I gave my driver a 
lunch of bread and cheese, which — of course there—included 
whisky. I also gave him a sovereign, telling him to pay his 
master for the horse-hire and keep the change for himself; 
then started him back brim full of delight and the “ craythur,” 
receiving his parting salute : 

“ Yer ’onor is a jintleman, and no mistake.” 

I arranged with the store-keeper to let a boy take me in 
his car to Clonmel. 

“ The Green Isle !” Well, I found out that day what keeps 
the grass green in Ireland. My Irish frieze and every thread 
on me were water-logged, yet the Irish lad, my driver, took 
the “ buckets-full ” as a matter of course. Amidst this deluge 
of rain, we arrived in Clonmel and stopped at a “ shebeen,” 
kept by the boy’s uncle — driving into the back yard through 
a gate in a board-fence fifteen feet high, which shut it in from 
the street. 

I went into a room in the rear of the sale-room, the door 


280 


QUESTIONED BY THE PROPRIETRESS. 


of which stood open so that I could see all that passed within ; 
and, as I stood drying my clothes by the turf fire, I saw how 
thirsty souls on the “ ould sod,” evaded the Sunday liquor 
law. The proprietor stood in the shop in a position whence 
he could covertly keep an eye on the policeman patrolling the 
street, and as soon as he was out of sight, a signal was given, 
the back-yard gate thrown open, when a dozen men rushed 
in, and the gate closed. Coming hilariously through the 
dwelling into the shop, these were soon busily drinking their 
“ potheen,” laughing and boasting about how cunningly they 
had “ done the cowardly informer of a policeman.” 

It was now two o’clock p. m. ; the rain had ceased, and 
starting out, I walked along a main street until I saw a sign, 
“ Cabs to let.” I went into the house and was shown into an 
inner room, where the proprietress sat crooning over a turf 
fire. She motioned me to a seat beside her, and when I told 
her I wished for a conveyance to take me to Cahir, a place 
eight miles distant, she asked me several questions, among 
others, how long I wished to be gone, and if I were not an 
American. To all of which, I replied to the following effect: 
That I was going to yisit some friends who were officers 
stationed in the fort at Cahir; and as to her mistaking me for 
an American, the ancestors of the “ Yankees ” went from 
about Norfolk county, England, to America,'of course taking 
the accent with them, and I being from the former place 
(Norfolk) of course had the same accent. 

This explanation appeared to satisfy the old lady, and she 
became quite confidential; and, anxious to remove from my 
mind any trace of offense at her unusual questioning, she 
drew closer to me and said: 

“ I can see that you are all right; but, the fact is, that 
the captain of police sent an order that I should notify 
him at once, in case any stranger wished to hire a vehicle, 
especially if I thought him an American. But I do not care 
for the curs; they are nothing but a parcel of spies and 
informers in the pay of the English government; so even if 


THE COTTAGE BY THE FORT. 


231 


you were the one they are looking for, they will wait a long 
time for me to inform them, and you shall have my best horse 
and a good driver.” 

I heartily thanked the good old Irish lady — for I have 
found true ladies and gentlemen among the poor and humble 
as well as the wealthy, especially in Ireland — and in a few 
minutes I was bowling gaily along toward Cahir. 

This is a small, ancient, walled garrison town, the nearest 
railway station being at Clonmel. This miniature city has 
been the scene of many a heart-stirring event in the distant 
past. Here Cromwell was for a time held at bay, and his 
fanatical hordes made their Celtic opponents pay in blood for 
their patriotic and desperate defense of their homes and 
firesides. 

Driving through the town gate, I saw in the main street a 
grocery store with a blind down, and telling the driver to halt 
there, I paid him and sent him back. I then went into the 
grocery, and after taking a lunch of bread and cheese, con¬ 
tinued my walk up the street. I saw a hotel just ahead, but 
not wishing to attract attention to my movements, I crossed to 
the opposite side, and while doing so, glanced back and saw a 
car come through the same town gate I had just entered, and 
dash furiously up the street, pulling up at the walk a few 
yards behind me. Just as they sprang out, I turned to the 
left into a narrow lane in which I saw a gateway to the fort, 
just within the entrance of which a sentry was pacing, there 
being opposite several roofless cottages. The soldier’s back 
being turned, quick as thought I sprang unseen within one of 
these, and in a moment I heard some men run around the 
corner and interrogate the soldier, who stoutly declared that 
no one had entered. The men then demanded to see the cap¬ 
tain, were admitted, and after a short time I heard them 
come out and depart. I stood in that ruin two mortal hours 
until dusk, then walked out unseen by the sentry, and turning 
to the left, came into a narrow street lined with small dwell¬ 
ing houses. 


Chapter XXIII. 


AN UNCEREMONIOUS CALL — “ I AM A FENIAN LEADER ” — A “ STORY ” TOLD IN THE 
DARK — MALOY HELPS MY ESCAPE ON AN IRISH JAUNTING-CAR — EGGS — A 
POLICEMAN ANXIOUS TO OBTAIN THE FIVE HUNDRED POUNDS REWARD — DUBLIN 
AGAIN — A JEWESS’S BLESSING — I TURN RUSSIAN, AND LATER BECOME A FRENCH¬ 
MAN— BELFAST DETECTIVES — ESCAPE INTO SCOTLAND — THE OTHER SIDE OF 
THE STORY — A BOW-STREET DETECTIVE’S ADVENTURES WHILE HUNTING ME 
THROUGH IRELAND — CROSS-QUESTIONING MY JAUNTING-CAR DRIVER — A 
“ COLD WATER CURE ” — HOT ON THE TRAIL — NOT IN THE FORT — A FRUITLESS 
HUNT — MANY INNOCENTS ARRESTED — MALOY BECOMES A “KNOW-NOTHING.” 


ROSSING the narrow street in Cahir, referred to at the 



V_y close of the last chapter, I went in hap-hazard at the 
first door, without knocking, and saw a family eating their 
humble supper. As I walked in I addressed the family at 
the table thus: 

u Good evening. Pardon my intrusion, and do not dis¬ 
turb yourselves; but by all means finish your supper.” 

“ Good evening, sir,” was the reply from the man, whom I 
will call Maloy. “ We are glad to see you; will you sit by 
and have pot-luck with us ? ” 

“ No, thank you,” I answered. “ I am an American — 
and it is my custom when traveling in any country to make 
unceremonious calls like this, in order to see the people as 
they really are at home.” 

After supper was over I related to Maloy and his family 
several stories and incidents concerning the Fenians and their 
doings in America, which of course interested them greatly. 
When it was fairly dark I arose to go, and Maloy went out¬ 
side with me. He had previously informed me that he was 
employed by the government in the civil service, I will not 
state in what capacity, for although so many years have 


( 232 ) 



MY FRIEND MALOY. 


233 


elapsed, the true-hearted Irishman may still be earning his 
bread in the same humble employment, and the knowledge 
that he assisted one whom he supposed to be a Fenian leader 
in 1873 might even now cost him dearly. If what he did was 
discovered at the time, and he suffered in consequence — 
should he be still alive, or if not, his wife or children — it 
would give me great pleasure to hear from the family, and to 
render them such aid as is now in my power. I am sure they 
cannot have forgotten me. When we were outside the door I 
said: 

“ The fact is, Maloy, I am a Fenian leader, and the police 
are after me! I have been dodging them for two days, and 
they are looking for me now in Cahir! I have important 
papers for prominent Fenians in various parts of Ireland, and 
it would delay our plans if I am obliged to destroy them. . 
But I fear I must do so at once, unless you can help me. I 
would almost sooner forfeit my life than to lose these papers, 
and I shall fight to my last breath rather than let them fall 
into the hands of the police, for it might be the ruin of 
several good men! My plan is to double back to Clonmel, 
and I want your assistance to get me out of Cahir! ” 

“ 0, sir,” he replied “ it is too bad you did not let me 
know a little sooner, for the mail-car is gone; it starts at six 
o’clock.” 

Just as he finished speaking, a car came rumbling past, 
and he exclaimed joyfully : 

“ We are in luck ! There goes the mail-car to the post- 
office ! Come with me ! ” 

We hastened through a narrow, dark lane to the gate — 
the same I had entered from Clonmel — walked through and 
at a hundred yards beyond waited for the mail-car, which soon 
came along. Maloy being well acquainted with the driver, 
hailed him. saying that a friend of his wanted a ride to 
Clonmel. 

After shaking hands warmly with Maloy, I climbed upon 
the car, and the next instant I was whirling along — into 
fresh dangers—in that unique vehicle, an Irish jaunting-car. 


234 


AMERICAN-ENGLISH TABOOED. 


Arriving near Clonmel I saw a tavern, and ascertaining 
from the driver that it was near the railway station, I left the 
car and entered the place, only to find that the best, and in 
fact the sole food to be had for supper was eggs. Having 
been on the move since dawn, after a sleepless night, and 
almost without food, I hesitate to divulge how many eggs I 
disposed of that evening, for the statement might tend to 
throw distrust on the general veracity of my narrative. Hav¬ 
ing dried my wet clothes and put myself into a presentable 
condition, I went to the railway station to take the eleven 
p. M. train to Dublin. Seating myself on a bench outside, I 
handed some money to a porter and sent him for a ticket, 
which he obtained. There were but a few waiting about, so I 
stepped into the small waiting-room and sat down near three 
other men. The one nearest, whom I at once put down for a 
local policeman in private clothes, turned and spoke to me. 
I replied with civility to his questions until finally he said: 
“ But, are you not an American ?” I replied to his startling 
question in such a manner that he appeared satisfied. 

“ You must excuse me, sir, for questioning you,” he ex¬ 
plained, “ but there has been a great forgery in London, and 
it is said some of the parties are in Ireland, and I am anxious 
to get a claim on the 500 pounds that is offered for each one 
of them.” I told him that instead of being offended, I was 
greatly pleased to see the zeal he exhibited in the execution 
of his duties, and expressed the hope that he might be suc¬ 
cessful in securing at least one of the forgers, which would 
give him not only the 500 pounds, but undoubtedly promo¬ 
tion. 1 got on the train all right, resolving that I would not 
speak another word of English while in Ireland, and forthwith 
turned into a Russian, who could speak “ une veree leetel 
Froncais,” confident that I should not be in danger of expos¬ 
ure by encounter with any one who could speak the Russian 
language. I threw away the ordinary Scotch cap I had been 
wearing, and put on the Glengary. When I arrived at the 
Maryborough junction, the train on the main line from Cork 


SECOND-HAND GOODS. 


235 


was late, and I walked up and down on the platform, well¬ 
knowing that the detectives would scrutinize more closely 
those who appeared to shrink from observation; therefore I 
affected the bearing of a Russian prince as nearly as I knew 
how. 

I got on the train unmolested, and arrived in Dublin at 
one a. M. 

There appeared to be some special watching of those 
leaving the train, but I passed out unchallenged and took a 
cab. Not knowing the name of any hotel, I told the driver I 
would direct the route as we passed along, and he drove away 
at a great pace. Yery soon I noticed another cab following 
at an equal speed. I had mine turn a corner, but the one 
behind came thundering after; and though I bade my driver 
to turn at nearly every corner, still I could not shake off 
my supposed pursuer until, after apparently being followed 
about two miles, the stern-chaser turned off in another direc¬ 
tion, much to my relief. We soon approached the Cathedral 
Hotel, where 1 alighted about two a. m., rang up the porter, 
and was shown to a room. 

At seven o’clock in the morning I sent for my bill, left 
the hotel, went direct to the a Jew” quarter, and purchased 
a valise and some second-hand clothes. Noticing the old 
Jewess’s looks of curiosity at seeing one of my appearance 
making such purchases, I remarked: “A Fenian friend has 
got himself into a scrape, and the police are after him; so I 
am going to get him out of the country, and wish to let him 
have some things that do not have too new a look.” At 
hearing those (in Ireland) magic words, “Fenian,” “police,” 
she became all smiles, let me fill the valise with old garments 
at my own price, and at parting said : “God bless you! May 
you have good luck, and get him off safe to America!” 

I then went to a more pretentious locality, where I pro¬ 
cured a silk hat draped with mourning crape, put the Glen- 
gary in my pocket, and became a Frenchman. At this 
moment I discovered that I had left in my room at the hotel 


236 


“ G. By 


a large silk neck-wrapper on which were embroidered the 
initials “ G. B.” I immediately stepped into a shop and left 
my new purchases, resuming the Scotch cap, and started for 
the hotel (where I had given no name) to secure the danger¬ 
ous article left behind. Coming in sight of the hotel, I saw 
a man stationed opposite, leaning on a cane, who appeared to 
be watching the house. As I approached nearer he kept his 
eyes covertly fixed upon me; therefore, instead of entering 
the hotel, I walked past it and turned the next corner, glanc¬ 
ing backward as I did so, and, to my dismay, saw the man 
following me. I now adopted the same plan of action that 
succeeded so well at Cork, and in a half-hour I had shaken 
him off and returned to the place where I had left my new 
silk hat and valise. Doffing the hat, with valise in hand, 1 
was soon seated in an Irish jaunting-car, on my way to a 
station about ten miles out on the railway to Belfast. 

Upon reflection, I was satisfied that the chambermaid had 
found the silk wrapper and taken it to the hotel office. There 
the initials, together with the knowledge of my arrival at so 
unusual an hour, without baggage, and my early departure, 
had aroused the suspicion that I was the George Bidwell of 
the newspapers, and the police had been notified at once. At 
about eleven a. m. I arrived at the station, and going into a 
store, paid my Dublin cabman, and called for a lunch. About 
five minutes before the train was due from Dublin, I walked 
into the empty station, presented myself at the ticket-office, 
and said, “ Parlez vous FranQais, Monsieur ? ” and received 
the reply, “ No.” I then said, in a mongrel of French and 
English, that I wished for a ticket to Drogheda — not daring 
to purchase one through to Belfast. Supposing me to be a 
French gentleman, he was very polite and ordered the porter 
to take my baggage to the platform. There I found myself 
the solitary waiting passenger. As the train approached, I 
saw a pair of heads projecting from the carriage windows, 
eagerly scanning the platform. Two men jumped off, and 
hastening to the station-master, began to talk to him in an 


PERSECUTION OF INNOCENTS. 


237 


excited manner, all the time glancing toward me. As I 
passed near the group to get on the train, I heard the agent 
say: “He is a Frenchman.” No doubt he informed them 
that I had purchased a ticket to a way-station only — a fact 
that would naturally allay suspicion. At the next stopping- 
place they actually arrested a man, but went no further. 

I afterward ascertained that twelve men were arrested on 
that and the preceding day, among the number being a fraud¬ 
ulent debtor trying to escape to America by the same steamer 
—the Atlantic. 

The following extracts from contemporary newspapers 
will give the reader some idea as to what a “hot” place 
Ireland was for me: 

[By cable to the New York Herald.'] 

London, March 18, 1873. 

Three shabbily dressed men, who from their accent are believed 
to be Americans, were arrested in Cork, Ireland, this morning, 
while attempting to deposit $12,000 in that city. 

They are supposed to be the parties who recently committed the 
frauds on the Bank of England. 

[From the London Times of same date.] 

To Editor of “Times”: 

Sir, — The case of Dr. Hessel has been so lately before the pub¬ 
lic, and so much has been written both in the English and German 
papers against the English police, that probably a little evidence 
upon the procedure of the German (or, I ought probably to say, the 
Bavarian) may not be uninteresting at the present moment. My¬ 
self and son, a sub-lieutenant, R. N., made a great effort to reach 
the grotesque old city of Nuremburg on Saturday last, 8th March, 
arriving there about seven p. m We were asked to put our names 
in the stranger’s book, as usual, which we did, and retired to bed. 
Imagine our surprise, on rising on Sunday morning, at receiving a 
visit from one of the chief police officers requesting us to “legitimize 
ourselves.” I asked him his object for making this demand, when 
he replied that a man named “Horton” was wanted by the English 
police. 

In vain I showed him an old passport and letters addressed to 


238 


“THOSE YANKEES” 


me, showing that my name was Hutton; he informed me that I 
could not leave my room, and placed two policemen at the door. 
At one o’clock I remembered an influential inhabitant of the town 
who knew me, and I sent for him. He at once went to head¬ 
quarters and gave bond for me to a large amount, and at six o’clock 
in the evening myself and son were released. You will remember 
that in the case of Dr. Hessel four persons swore to his identity 
before he was deprived of his liberty. In my case a similar name 
to that required was sufficient to deprive me of mine. 

I have since received, thanks to the strenuous and prompt 
action of the British Minister at Munich, a very ample apology in 
writing for the blunder that had been committed. It is signed by 
the Burgermeister of the city, and as the intelligence of this worthy 
seems to be equaled by his simplicity, he sends me a safe pass to 
protect me in my further travels, in case Hutton should again be 
considered the same as Horton. I remain, sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Chas. W. C. Hutton, 
Ex-Sheriff, London and Middlesex. 

Frankfort-on-the-Maine, March 15, 1873. 

1 now return to my narrative. In the second-class com¬ 
partment where I sat were two burly, loud-talking, well- 
informed farm proprietors, one of whom had imbibed a little 
too freely of the native distillation. The sober one had just 
finished reading a column article on the “ Great Bank For¬ 
gery ” to his lively companion, who at length turned and 
addressed me. I answered him politely in broken French, 
and he then went on to give his opinion of the bank affair, as 
nearly as I can remember, as follows: 

“ You, being a Frenchman, don’t understand about our 
great bank; but I tell you those Yankees did a mighty thing 
when they attacked that powerful institution. . The one they 
have got penned up here in Ireland can’t possibly escape; 
indeed, according to the newspapers, he is already in the 
hands of the police. I am almost sorry to hear it, for in 
getting the best of that bank so cleverly the-rascal deserves 
to get off; and see, here is a description of him.” 


A FRENCH TRAVELER. 


239 


I looked at the paper and saw that it was a fair general 
outline of my appearance, even to my ulster which I had with 
me in the valise, and the Scotch cap which was in my pocket. 
Before we reached Drogheda I had explained to one of my 
new friends, in broken French, that, owing to my ignorance 
of the English language, I had purchased a wrong ticket, and 
being liable to make a similar mistake, should feel obliged if 
he would take the trouble to procure me a ticket at that sta¬ 
tion. He readily assented, and by this means I procured it 
without exposing myself. The hunt for me was becoming so 
extremely hot that I dared not show myself again at a ticket- 
office; and if I should be found on a train ticketless, that fact 
might lead to closer scrutiny—the rule in that country being 
that every passenger must be provided with a ticket before 
entering a car, under the penalty of fine or imprisonment. 

The train arrived in Belfast at nine P. M., and I at once 
took a cab to the Glasgow steamer. It was very dark, and 
I went on board unobserved, two hours before the time of 
departure. Going down into the saloon cabin, I saw the 
purser sitting near the entrance, to whom I said: “ Parlez 
vous Fran§ais ?” He shook his head. I then asked in jargon 
for “ une billet a Glasgow.” Surmising what I wished, he 
gave me a ticket, putting on it the number of my berth. 

Expecting to be followed, I had taken that instant pre¬ 
caution of impressing on the purser’s mind that I was a 
Frenchman. I passed into the wash-room, just 'opposite 
where the purser sat, washed myself, and brushed my hair. 
Just at this moment I heard steps descending the cabin stair¬ 
way, then the words: 

“ Purser, a cab just brought a man from the Dublin train. 
Where is he?” “ Oh, you mean the Frenchman,” replied the 
purser; “ he’s in the wash-room.” 

While this was passing I had put on my silk hat and 
taken up my valise, and was standing before the glass (d la 
Frangais ), taking a final view of my toilette , and snapping off 
some imaginary dust and lint, as two detectives stepped in, 


240 


THE DETECTIVE'S STORY . 


and after looking me well over, went out, and I saw them no 
more. That proved to be the last ordeal through which I 
passed in the hunt through Ireland. After being con¬ 
vinced that they had left the steamer, I went to my berth, 
and being thoroughly exhausted, I fell asleep in an instant, 
not awaking until the steamer was entering the harbor of 
Glasgow. 

After my arrest a month later in Scotland, during the 
transfer to London, arid afterward at Newgate, while awaiting 
trial four months, the detectives told me that they were in 
Cork three hours after I had left, and one of them related 
their adventures substantially as follows: 

We arrived in Cork Saturday afternoon, and were not long in 
finding the temperance hotel where you stayed on Friday night, 
and the hat you left behind. After a long hunt we ascertained 
that a jaunting-car had left the stand some hours previously, and 
was still absent. 

W e had a good laugh at those blunder-heads, the Cork officers, 
letting you slip through their fingers, and then showed them how 
we do things. After some delay, we traced the cab across the 
bridge to the shop where you got the boy to go for it. The shop- 
woman was quite voluble about you, saying she knew all the time 
that you were an American by the accent, and described the bag 
and ulster which we had ascertained were in your possession. Of 
course we were now satisfied that we were on the right scent, but 
could get no further trace, or the direction taken by the cab. We 
therefore sent dispatches to all the telegraph stations within fifty 
miles to put the police on the watch, and sent messengers to the 
outlying places; but somehow you slipped through our meshes, and 
nothing turned up until the carman returned at about eleven p. m., 
as drunk as a soldier on furlough. After putting him under a 
water tap until he was half drowned, we got him sober enough to 
tell where he had left you; but he swore you were a priest, and his 
evident sincerity caused us all to roar with laughter. This angered 
him, and he said: “Ye may twist me head an dhroun me intirely, 
but I wull niver spake another wurrud about the jintelman at all, 
at all,” and sure enough, we could get nothing more out of him. 

































































































































































































































































































































































FOLLOWING THE TRAIL. 


241 


We had a carriage ready, and, jumping in, we were at the way- 
side inn by midnight, and terrified the old woman half out of her 
wits in arousing her out of bed. After a while she gathered them 
sufficiently to show us that you had six hours the start of us. The 
boy who carried your bag could give us no points, but we concluded 
you intended taking the branch line at Fermoy for Dublin. We 
drove right on, arriving at the Fermoy station at one a. m. ; but 
getting no trace, we telegraphed to all the stations along the line to 
Dublin, and there as well, to be on the lookout. Who would ever 
have thought of your taking the opposite direction, penning your¬ 
self in at the end of a branch line, at a small, inland town like 
Lismore? Why, you were, as we discovered the next morning, at 
that moment sleeping quietly at the Lismore Hotel, and only about 
ten miles from where we were working so industriously for that 
£500! Well, you “done” us fine, that time! 

After you so cleverly threw us off the trail, we could get no 
trace until Sunday morning, when we received a dispatch from 
Lismore, stating that a man had come on the last train, stayed at 
the hotel, and left at daylight without paying his bill; also, that he 
had left a bag in his room, which contained some collars marked 
“G-. B.” “Hello!” said I, as soon as I read the dispatch, “we 
never suspected Lismore; he has been there all night, and is off, 
again! ” We telegraphed to Clonmel, Waterford, and other places; 
then left for Lismore, where we arrived, paid your bill, and took 
the bag with us. Surmising that you might make for Clonmel, 
we looked for and found the place where you got the car, but no 
news as to what direction you had taken. It would have made 
y6u laugh, as it did us, to see the old livery-man stamp about and 
tear his hair when he found how easily he could have made the 
£500 — if he had “only known.” 

Starting on the way to Clonmel, we soon had news which satisfied 
us we were once more on the right track. Shortly after we met, 
sure enough, the cab you had sent back from the country store. 
Arriving there we took the boy, who had just returned from driv¬ 
ing you to Clonmel, with us, and feeling sure that we should soon 
come up with you, we made our horses spin toward that town. 
Arriving there, we saw the Inspector, who informed us that he had 
sent a constable in pursuit of a man who had hired a car to go to 


16 


242 


BAFFLED. 


Cahir. [This must have been one of the men in the car whom I 
escaped by dodging into the ruined cottage.— Author.] It being 
then sundown, we drove to Cahir, with all speed, arriving there just 
after dark, passing the Clonmel mail-car inside the gate ; but it 
contained no one but the driver. [It appears that the Bow detect¬ 
ives arrived just as I was going with Maloy through the lane, as 
previously described ] 

We soon found the constable sent from Clonmel, who said you 
had disappeared into the fort, where a friend must have concealed 
you, and that you must be there still. He then took us to the fort, 
which was closed for the night. As soon as my eyes lighted on the 
ruined cottages, I asked him if he had searched them, and received 
an answer in the negative. “ Why,” said he, “ they are, as you see, 
all open to the day, without roof, doors, or windows, and no one 
would think of hiding in them.” u You are a fool,” I replied ; 
11 Give me your lamp, and come in with me.” After a look around, 
and seeing how easily any person could stand in a corner out of 
sight, I remarked to him, emphatically, that he was the biggest 
specimen of a goose I had ever seen in my line. “ I think,” said I, 
“ you had better go home and play pin. Here is where he dodged 
you, and now he is off again, with an hour or more start! ” We 
worked until after midnight, and gave Cahir such a “ turning over ” 
that the inhabitants won’t soon forget, but could not get hold of the 
least trace, except at one place [Maloy’s], where a woman said a 
stranger came in at supper time, who said he was an American 
seeing the people in their homes. We cross-questioned the man, 
but could get nothing out of him more than that you had departed. 

At last we gave it up, went to the hotel to get some sleep, which 
we needed badly, and the next day went to Dublin, heard about the 
finding of your neckwrapper at the Cathedral Hotel, and knocked 
about Ireland for some time. During this time we arrested several 
persons, but soon discovered none of them were the right party, 
and we never obtained a genuine trace until you gave yourself 
away later in Edinburgh. 

Readers who may discover any trace of exultation in my 
relation of the cool and skillful manner in which I eluded the 
detectives, will bear in mind that the story is told from the 


“FAREWELL TO ERIN.' 


243 


standpoint of my then state of feeling. It is only fair for me 
to say that, at the moment, while in the thick of it, I did feel 
a certain exultation and full confidence in my ability to keep 
out of the way for all time. But my name had become known, 
which, with other disclosures, showed that I had been a victim 
of misplaced confidence ; and, though I might have gone any¬ 
where with impunity, while they were still hunting me 
in Ireland, I lay dormant in Edinburgh rather than to be hunted 
through the world . 



Chapter XXIV. 


ARRIVAL IN EDINBURGH — A MYSTERY UNVEILED—EDITORIAL FROM THE “LONDON 
TIMES” — I AM ARRESTED — M’KELVIE AND McNAB—DIAMONDS — BAILIE WIL¬ 
SON— CROWDS TO SEE ME OFF — TRANSFERRED TO LONDON — A NIGHT AT 
BOW-STREET POLICE STATION — BEFORE THE LORD MAYOR OF LONDON — THE 
MANSION HOUSE — CONSIGNED TO NEWGATE. 

O N arrival of the steamer at Glasgow, about three a. m., 
it was a question whether I ought not to go directly 
back to London, and, while it was believed I was still in 
Ireland, make a rush across the Channel, through France to 
Marseilles, then by steamer to Rio Janeiro. On arrival there 
it would be easy to take one of the coast line steamships for 
New York. But, feeling that my escape from Ireland had cut 
off all trace of me, I concluded to take the train to Edinburgh 
and lie by for a while. Arriving there I stayed one night at a 
small temperance hotel, assuming the character of a German, 
and the next day I took a room at 22 Cumberland Street—a 
lodging house for medical students. Here I remained from 
the 10th of March until the 3d of April, sometimes passing 
the day in wandering about this interesting ancient city. A 
stroll through the old Edinburgh streets, and the old Market 
Cross, furnished material for reflection on the vicissitudes of 
life as illustrated in the pictures of the past, which filled my 
mind as I gazed upon these relics of generations in whose 
footsteps I was now treading. 

It had all along been a great mystery to me as to how the 
detectives had so easily unveiled the actors, and so quickly 
ascertained the connection of McDonald and myself with the 
forgery. But now having access to the newspapers, shock 
after shock nearly overwhelmed me as I saw how I had been 

(244) 



“GIVEN AWAY. 


245 


duped to take part in a crime without the slightest chance of 
keeping it enveloped in the darkness in which I firmly believed 
it was wrapped. But enough on that point. The object of 
this book is not to inculpate—still less to exonerate myself 



OLD EDINBURGH STREET. 


from the justifiable charge of having been a fool. The fol¬ 
lowing is compiled from the numerous accounts detailing my 
arrest and return to London. 

It appears that about the l Oth of March, a person named Cou- 
tant arrived in Edinburgh (it is supposed from Ireland) and took 
up his residence in Cumberland Street. From the 11th to the 20th, 
he made it a daily practice to call at a news agent’s shop in Dundas 
Street, for the purpose of purchasing the EJmburgh and London. 















246 


M'KEL VIE AND McNAB. 


papers. After pondering the matter over in his mind, it occurred 
to the news agent that his visitor was exceedingly like the descrip¬ 
tion given in the newspapers of Bidwell, one of the Bank of Eng¬ 
land forgers. He at last became so confirmed in this idea that he 
mentioned his suspicion to a gentleman who was in the habit of 
visiting his shop. This gentleman who is in the employment of 
Messrs. Gibson-Craig, Dalziel & Brodies, agents for the Bank of 
England in Edinburgh, as a clerk, informed the partners of the 
suspicion of the bookseller. The firm on hearing their clerk’s 
statement, sent for detective M’Kelvie and instructed him to make 
inquiries regarding Coutant. On Wednesday morning he deter¬ 
mined to visit the shopkeeper in Dundas Street, and a plain-clothed 
constable named McNab, on the application of the agents, was sent 
to assist him if his inquiries were successful. On interrogating the 
shopkeeper he was directed to the house on Cumberland Street, in 
which Coutant resided. On proceeding to the place indicated, 
M’Kelvie inquired of the landlady, who said that a gentleman from 
Hamburg or Rotterdam had been residing with her for a few 
weeks, and had ordered her to keep him very quiet, as he was in 
rather bad health. M’Kelvie then rejoined McNab whom he had 
left at the bottom of the stairs. About twenty minutes to one 
o’clock, a person answering the description of Bidwell emerged, 
and M’Kelvie observed the landlady nodding to him, as much as to 
say “ That is the man.” Coutant, after looking up and down the 
street, re-entered, which movement still further excited the suspic¬ 
ions of the detectives. M’Kelvie here remarked to his friend, that 
the action of Coutant scarcely seemed like that of an honest man. 
After waiting till a few minutes past one o’clock, Coutant again 
came out to the street and walked up Drummond Place to the top 
of Scotland Street, where he posted a letter in a pillar letter-box. 
Coutant, or Bidwell, now became conscious that he was being fol¬ 
lowed, and that, evidently, there was something wrong. He 
accordingly began to dodge about a number of streets and lanes in 
the locality, and finally took to his heels. The detectives followed, 
and now began a most exciting chase. The fugitive, with great 
agility, scaled one after another a number of garden walls lying 
between Bellevue-Crescent and Scotland Street. Being pressed 
closely by M’Kelvie, who was just at his heels, he deliberately 
entered the back door of a house, ran along the passage, and made 


Me 11 NABBED” 


247 


his exit into the area in Scotland Street. He then ran up the stairs, 
scaled the railings, and made off down the street, along Royal 
Crescent, and up Duncan Street. M’Kelvie still kept well up, the 
constable having fallen considerably in the rear. Seeing that his 
efforts to escape were now becoming hopeless, Coutant turned 
around and with a stick which he had managed to carry along with 
him, made several strokes at M’Kelvie. The detective warded off 
the blows and succeeded in gripping his man. M’Kelvie then 
called a coal porter, who was in the vicinity, and with his assist' 
ance, he conducted Bidwell to Pitt Street, where a cab was got. 
He was then conveyed to Messrs. Gibson-Craig, Dalziel & Brodie’s 
office in Thistle Street, and information of the capture was sent to 
the police authorities. 

In the custody of the two officers Bidwell was removed to the 
central office in High Street and locked up. The police proceeded 
shortly after the apprehension, to his lodgings and took possession 
of his luggage. On opening the portmanteaus, a number of valu¬ 
able diamonds, a large quantity of jewelry, and several letters bear¬ 
ing the name of George Bidwell were found. 

On Wednesday, at the police court, before Bailie Wilson, Bid- 
well was placed at the bar, on the charge of being concerned in the 
forgeries. Mr. Morhah, the clerk of the court, read a petition, set¬ 
ting forth that on or about the 7th of March, the Procurator Fiscal 
received information from Inspector Bailey, of the city of London 
police, charging George Bidwell with the crime of forgery. 

Mr. Morhah asked for a warrant authorizing his detention. 
Bailie Wilson granted the necessary warrant. The prisoner was 
then removed, and was shortly afterward conveyed in a cab to the 
Waverly Station. There he was handed over to the care o.f the 
two detective officers from London, who left with him about eleven 
o’clock, a compartment of a first-class carriage having been engaged 
for them. 

A crowd assembled at the station to see the prisoner. He was 
very lame, having evidently sustained severe injuries while being 
pursued the previous day. He did not sleep during Wednesday 
night, but occupied his time in reading. He had in his possession 
ten diamonds, which a jeweler in Edinburgh valued at about £150 
each. 

Detective Sergeants Spittle and Smith, of the city police, 






248 1 SICKLY AND CAREWORN:* 

who had been sent specially to Edinburgh to bring him, 
arrived at the Euston Square terminus, about half-past nine, 
and Bid well was conveyed thence in a cab, under a strong 
escort, to the Bow-lane Police Station. On alighting from the 
cab he appeared lame, and walked with some little difficulty into 



MARKET CROSS, EDINBURGH. 


the station. He looked sickly and careworn. Major Bowman, 
assistant commissioner of city police, arrived at the police station 
while the prisoner was answering some formal questions put to him 
by the inspector on duty, Mr. Knight. Being asked his name, he 
smiled slightly and hesitated. Upon that he was asked if he 
declined to give it. He still hesitated, and the inspector explained 
to him that he was not bound to give his name. What they 
wanted to know was whether he was disposed to give it or not. At 





















AT LAST IN NEWGATE. 


249 


length, smiling slightly, he replied, that he would rather not give 
it then. Being asked his address, he gave one in Edinburgh, which 
appeared to be only audible to the inspector, but it was understood 
to be in Cumberland Street. The inspector followed up the reply 
by inquiring his business or profession. To that again he at first 
hesitated, and then said, “ Mercantile.” Being asked if he meant 
that he was a merchant, he replied, after a short pause, in the 
affirmative, adding that he was out of business. The officers, in 
whose care he was, showed him much kindness, and as he was 
about to retire for the night, allowed him the use of some rugs from 
among his luggage. He was then escorted to one of the ordinary 
cells of the Bow Station, in which to spend the night, and had a 
proper guard placed over him. 

After the lapse of fifteen years, I can read with a good deal 
of equanimity, the account of my arrest, in which M’Kelvie 
figures as the most important character—he, at the time, 
indulging in much self-glorification. 

On arriving in London, I was taken to the Bow-street Police 
Station and put into a cell, to pass a sleepless night, and about 
ten the next morning, made my first appearance in the 
Mansion House before Mayor Sir Sidney Waterlow. After 
some preliminary sparring between the lawyers, I was con¬ 
signed to Newgate, to ruminate upon my gradual descent into 
that hades. 



Chapter XXV 


EXTRADITION OF AUSTIN BIDWELL FROM CUBA AND GEORGE McDONALD FROM 
NEW YORK — AUSTIN ARRESTED IN HAVANA — A “ NEW YORK HERALD” EDI¬ 
TORIAL— SYMPATHY WITH “ FILLIBUSTERS ”— CABLE DISPATCHES TO “THE 
HERALD” AND “THE LONDON TIMES” — GENERAL SICKLES’S INTERVIEW WITH 
SENOR CASTELAR AT MADRID—BIDWELL ESCAPES — RECAPTURE — HE IS SUR¬ 
RENDERED TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT — ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND — McDONALD 
ARRIVES IN NEW YORK—DETECTIVES IRVING AND FARLEY TRICK SHERIFF 
JUDSON JARVIS — BOARD THE “THURINGIA” AT QUARANTINE — CURIOUS 
“SEARCH” OF McDONALD —SHERIFFS JARVIS AND CURRY TOO LATE—NO 
BONDS RECOVERED — SEIZE WATCHES AND DIAMONDS — McDONALD AT LUDLOW 
STREET JAIL — EXTRADITION PROCEEDINGS — STARTLING ARREST OF SUPERIN¬ 
TENDENT KELSO AND DETECTIVES IRVING AND FARLEY — MCDONALD’S RIDE 
DOWN BROADWAY — IN FORT COLUMBUS—SURRENDERED TO THE BRITISH 
GOVERNMENT — EXIT ON STEAMSHIP “MINNESOTA” — THE “DOMINION’S SELF¬ 
ISH PROTECTION OF BANK DEFAULTERS, BOODLERS,” ETC. 

I T will be remembered that in Chapter XX was detailed 
the imprudent marriage of my brother, and his arrest 
at Havana while on his wedding journey. 

I now resume the story, giving in this chapter some 
account, from contemporary sources, of his extradition from 
Cuba and his arrival in London. 

[Editorial W. Y. Herald , March 29, 1873 ] 

CUBAN AFFAIRS —BID WELL’S IMPRISONMENT. 

The special telegraph advices which we publish to-day in refer¬ 
ence to the imprisonment at Havana of Bidwell, one of the parties 
accused of the recent forgeries on the Bank of England, are very 
interesting, touching the jurisdiction of the Island authorities in 
this matter. It appears that Bidwell was arrested at the request 
of the British government, on the supposition that he was a British 
subject; but it is represented that he is a citizen of the United 
States *of America, a native of Michigan, and that his arrest in 
Cuba is not justified by any extradition treaty with England nor by 

( 250 } 



INTERNATIONAL COMPLICATIONS. 251 

any other authority, except that of the Captain-General, whose will 
over the Island is the supreme law. If it can he established that 
Bid well is a citizen of the United States, his case certainly calls for 
the intervention of Mr. Secretary Fish. The prisoner, it seems, 
desires a transfer to New York, which is perfectly natural; but we 
suspect that the international difficulties suggested, touching his deten¬ 
tion in Cuba, will not materially improve his chances of escape. 

Not long before the arrest of my brother in Cuba, the 
steamer Virginia , an American vessel, was captured by a 
Spanish cruiser. On the charge of being “ filibusters,” the 
crew and all persons found on board were shot. Among 
these were several Americans. The United States govern¬ 
ment sent for the Virginia and demanded reparation for her 
capture, and indemnity for the lives of the Americans. This 
was the cause of serious international complications, which 
threatened to end in war. It was this state of affairs referred 
to in the italics of the Herald editorial above quoted, which 
caused his final surrender. 

There is no longer any doubt that the punctilious Span¬ 
iards would never have surrendered Austin Bidwell to the 
demand of the British government, had it not been for their 
posture of hostility toward the United States. There was 
considerable ground for this feeling in the sympathy shown 
in some parts of the United States for, and assistance ren¬ 
dered to, the Cuban insurgents. 

It will be perceived, by the following dispatch, that Austin 
was supposed to be a British subject. 

[Telegrams to the New York Herald of 29th, referred to in above editorial.] 

Havana, March 26, 1873. 

The man Bidwell was, it appears, arrested on the charge of 
complicity with the forgeries on the Bank of England, at the 
request of the British government, communicated to the Captain- 
General of Cuba by the Spanish Ministers in London and Wash¬ 
ington, who supposed him to be a British subject. Bidwell is, on 
the contrary, an American, a native of Michigan. His arrest is 
not justified by any treaty of extradition between Spain, England, 


252 


VIOLATION OF LAWS. 


or the United States. Such proceedings could be carried out in 
no other country than Cuba, where the Captain-General does not 
always act in accordance with law. Distinguished lawyers and 
judges of this city, in conversation with the Herald correspondent, 
denounce the act as being utterly illegal, and without precedent, 
except in the case of Argeumes, in the year 1864. 

COMMON LAW AND TREATY SET AT DEFIANCE. 

The gentlemen also declare that it is a violation of the laws of 
Spain and of the treaty stipulations with the United States, and in 
contempt of the guarantees of the law of 1870 relative to foreigners. 
The same lawyers and judges assert that it would be better that a 
delinquent should escape than that so bad a precedent as the act of 
delivery of Bidwell would make should be established. 

THE PRISONER’S TREATMENT AND FEARS. 

Bidwell has been now seven days incommunicated — not per¬ 
mitted to see a lawyer or his wife. The Herald correspondent has 
been refused permission to see him. 

The British Vice-Consul obtained, by compulsion, the sum of 
$5,000 from Mrs. Bidwell, in United States five-twenties. Com¬ 
plaints having been made, the Captain-General ordered that the 
sum should be deposited. 

Bidwell is afraid that there exist no guarantees for a due and 
proper administration of justice here. He has expressed his desire 
to be sent to New York. 

. [Cable dispatches from Havana to the London Times.] 

New York, April 4, 1873. 

Great efforts are being made by the lawyers to obtain the 
release of Bidwell, and an action for illegal arrest is threatened. 

Havana, April 4th. 

The American Consul here demands from the Cuban authorities 
the release of the prisoner Bidwell, alias Warren, on the ground 
that he is an American citizen. 

Madrid, April 8th. 

Gen. Sickles has formally notified Senor Castelar that the 
American government will consent to the surrender to the British 
government of Bidwell, now in custody in Havana, upon a charge 
of being concerned in the forgeries upon the Bank of England. 


CABLE DISPATCHES. 


253 


Havana, April 10th. 

The British Consul continues to counteract the efforts that are 
being made to prevent the extradition of Bidwell. 

Generals Portello and Renegassi have been relieved of their 
posts, and are ordered to return to Spain. (For opposing Austin 
Bidwell’s extradition). 

[By cable from Ilavana to N. T. Herald , April 13, 1873.] 

Bidwell, the alleged Bank of England forger, escaped yesterday 
by jumping over the balcony. He was partly dressed. He is sup¬ 
posed to be hiding in this city. Bidwell’s Havana friends, seeing 
the impossibility of. counteracting by legal means the efforts of the 
British Consul to secure his extradition, undoubtedly planned the 
affair. 

Havana, April 14th. 

Bidwell has been recaptured on the seashore twenty miles above 
Havana. He was severely bruised in the hands and legs while 
escaping from prison. He had leaped from under the soldiers’ 
bayonets, from the Arsenal second story into the crowded street, 
and got clear out of Havana without assistance. 

[By cable to the London Times.] 

Havana, April 17, 1873. 

While Inspectors Hayden and Green, and a clerk of the Bank 
of England, were on their passage from New York to Havana, a 
notorious thief, named Wilson, opened the detectives’ trunks and 
extracted some money. His object is said to have been to secure 
the documents relating to the extradition of Bidwell. Wilson has 
been arrested on a charge of burglary. The English detectives 
and the British Consul have completely baffled the efforts to obtain 
the release of Bidwell. 

[From the London Times , May 28,1873.] 

Among the passengers who landed at Plymouth yesterday after¬ 
noon, from the Royal Mail Company’s steamship Moselle , were 
Austin Bidwell, alias Warren, in charge of detectives Sergeants 
Michael Hayden and William Green, of the city police, and Mr. 
Curton, private detective (of Mr Pinkerton’s staff, from Chicago). 
They were joined at Plymouth by detective Sergeant John Moss of 
the city police, who had come down from London the previous 


254 


THE CANADIAN COLONY. 


night to meet the steamer. It being known at Plymouth that Bid* 
well was expected from Havana in the Moselle , a large number of 
persons assembled on Milbay pier, to await the return of the steam- 
tender with the mail, in order to get a sight of the prisoner, and so 
great was the crowd that it was with some difficulty that Bidwell 
and his escort managed to reach a cab and were driven to the Duke 
of Cornwall Hotel, adjoining the railway station. They left by the 
7.45 p. m. mail train for London. A large crowd was present to 
see them off. Mr. Good, from the western branch of the Bank of 
England, who went to Jamaica to identify the prisoner, also came 
home in the Moselle , and went on in the steamer to Southampton, 
en route for London. Bidwell will be taken before the Lord Mayor 
at the Justice-room of the Mansion House this morning. 

I have it from what I consider the best authority, that 
among the secret stipulations of the treaty for settling the 
steamer Virginia affair — in which Great Britain had a hand 
— was one in effect binding the United States government to 
consent that Austin might be delivered to the British author¬ 
ities by the Spanish government. 

I, would call the especial attention of our neighbors of 
the “ Dominion ” to the foregoing. On this occasion it was an 
American — to whom the laws of his own country properly 
refused protection, after the committal of a crime abroad —• 
who was extradited from Cuba, despite the fact that there 
was no extradition treaty between Spain and England. It 
makes a difference whose bull is gored. 

Long previous to 18T3, a British dependency (or inde¬ 
pendency ?) has been a safe refuge for bank-defaulters, 
boodlers, etc., from the United States — and this because of 
the dishonest money they squander or invest in the “ Domin¬ 
ion.” Short-sighted policy! Will not reflection convince 
our neighbors that seeing criminal “ exiles ” strutting about 
their towns in stolen plumes, living in high style, and squan¬ 
dering their illicit gains in divers ways, is a direct incentive 
to their young men to “ go and do likewise ” ? Such a blind 
policy is sure to entail its own retribution, with compound 


DETECTIVES GO DOWN THE BAY. 255 

interest, and even now we have a Canadian colony of the 
same kidney protected by the starry flag. 

In Chapter XXI I gave a sketch of McDonald’s flight and 
embarkation at Havre for New York. As soon as the Thur¬ 
ingia was fairly on her voyage he felt comparatively safe, 
believing that even if the fact transpired that he was one of 
my party, it would be impossible to extradite him from New 
York. 

But before the steamer arrived Mr. Kelso, then superin¬ 
tendent of the New York City police, received a cablegram 
from Inspector Bailey of the City of London police, with full 
particulars, and at once detailed Detectives Irving and Farley 
to meet the steamer and arrest McDonald. 

At the same time the law firm of Blatchford, Seward & 
Da Costa, agents for the Bank of England, received the same 
information, also that McDonald had a large sum in bonds 
and other valuables. They at once procured a writ of attach¬ 
ment from the Supreme Court which they confided to Sheriff 
Brennan for execution. 

Commissioner Gutman appointed Detective Irving United 
States Deputy Marshal to serve the warrant against Mc¬ 
Donald. The action of the plaintiff’s attorneys made the 
police officers responsible for the person of McDonald on the 
criminal charge, and held Sheriff Brennan responsible for the 
seizure and attachment of all the valuables and property 
found upon him. It became important, therefore, that the 
police and sheriff’s officers should act jointly, and arrange¬ 
ments were made for both police detectives and sheriff’s 
deputies to go together down the bay to meet the incoming 
steamer. Therefore, Detectives Farley and Irving, Deputy 
Sheriff Judson Jarvis, and special Deputy Lawrence Curry, 
went down the* bay on Tuesday, March 18th, on board the 
police boat Seneca , and prepared to board her from the quar¬ 
antine boat. The detectives and Deputy Sheriff Jarvis had 
gone ashore for this purpose, leaving special Deputy Curry on 
board the police boat, which was in charge of a sergeant. 


256 


McDonald picked clean. 


The detectives before going aboard the quarantine boat urged 
Deputy Sheriff Judson Jarvis to remain on shore until they 
sent for him, alleging that they feared the forger might divine 
the object of their visit, and make away with the bonds which 
it was certain he had on his person. Their real object was 
to see him alone first, as they knew he would confide his valu¬ 
ables to them for safe-keeping. Ponder on the import of those 
italics. This the deputy declined to do, and went aboard the 
quarantine boat with them, but on attempting to board the 
Thuringia at the same time with the detectives, Mr. Jarvis 
w r as prevented by Dr. Moshier, deputy Health Officer in 
charge, although insisting on his right as a sheriff serving an 
order of the Supreme Court. The detectives with whom the 
deputy sheriff was acting in concert, of course, made no 
attempt to explain to the Health Officer, but hurrying below 
got from Mac, with whom they were well-acquainted, all the 
bonds in his possession, while Deputy Sheriff Jarvis was thus 
prevented from executing the order of the Supreme Court. 

Meantime special Deputy Curry, on board the police boat, 
becoming suspicious from the long delay that something was 
wrong on board the Thuringia , requested the sergeant to run 
down alongside the steamer, and a rope being thrown him, he 
immediately climbed on board. Finding that his superior 
had been detained on the health boat, he immediately ran to 
the other side, and assuming authority, ordered the boat for¬ 
ward, and Deputy Sheriff Jarvis sprang up the side of the 
vessel, and both officers at once went below. The search of 
McDonald, of course, had been concluded, when the sheriffs 
entered the state-room and made the attachment of what 
little property was found. This consisted of about $10,000 
in gold, that being too heavy for the detectives to carry away, 
and it would have been dangerous to attempt to make way 
with the watches and diamonds, Mac having displayed them 
on the voyage,— two gold watches, one diamond ring weighing 
ten karats and worth probably $10,000, two diamonds weigh¬ 
ing four and one-sixteenth karats, and one diamond weigh- 


NEWGATE. —PREPARING FOR AN EXECUTION. 





















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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, : 

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KELSO , FARLEY , ^JVZ> IRVING SURPRISED . 257 

ing four and one-half karats. Not a single bond of any 
description was found by the sheriff, and only a few gold 
coins were left on Mac’s person. On being searched a second 
time McDonald laughed and said, “ I’m clean; you can’t 
prove anything on me ; you can’t send me back to England on 
any such charge.” 

In order to throw dust in the eyes of the sheriff, the detec¬ 
tives pretended to become suspicious of others on board, and 
at their suggestion, the custom-house officers searched the 
person of one named Philip D’Artigue who had come aboard 
at Havre, and who had been frequently in conversation with 
Mac during the voyage. It was rumored on board that he had 
300,000 francs on his person when he started, but no bonds of 
any description or money were found on him. Other passengers 
were searched but none of the bonds were found, and McDonald 
was taken to the Ludlow Street house-of-detention. 

After depositing the captured property in safe keeping, 
Deputy Sheriff Jarvis reported the seizure that had been 
made to Messrs. Blatchford, Seward & Da Costa. Those 
lawyers were astonished at the result of the search, which 
disappointed their well-grounded expectations. Inquiry was 
made by them into the circumstances of the deputy sheriff’s 
detention, and they asked his opinion of the proceedings, but 
this he declined to give. 

Finally, after consultation among themselves, they directed 
the deputy sheriff to serve the same warrant of attachment 
he had served upon Mac, upon Detectives Irving and Farley; 
also on Superintendent Kelso. After some hesitation and 
inquiry of his own counsel, the deputy sheriff found it was 
incumbent upon him to take this extraordinary and unusuai 
proceeding. He therefore repaired, about six o’clock p. m., to 
the office of the superintendent, and immediately served an 
attachment on him and on Detectives Farley and Irving. 
The service of the writ on Superintendent Kelso was a great 
surprise to him. This service rendered all three subject to 
examination about the bonds. 

17 


258 EXTRADITION PROCEEDINGS. 

During the extradition proceedings before United States 
Commissioner Gutman, Superintendent Kelso purged himself 
and his subordinates, Detectives Farley and Irving (who skill¬ 
fully evaded examination on the ground that their superior, 
Superintendent Kelso, was responsible for their acts and must 
answer for them, they reporting detective services only to 
him), from the implied charge of having appropriated bonds, 
etc., by making oath that he had nothing “ except a revolver 
taken from the possession of the said George McDonald.” 

I am not able to say that the superintendent was in the 
confidence of his subordinates, in the case in question; but I 
do know, on the best authority, that the two detectives did 
take a considerable amount of United States bonds from Mac 
on board the steamer, and that the whole object of their 
maneuvering to prevent the deputy sheriffs, Judson Jarvis 
and Lawrence Curry, from getting on board the steamer at 
the same time with themselves, was for the express purpose 
of affording them that opportunity. I could give some 
startling particulars in regard to this and cognate matters — 
but let it pass. 

Mr. E. M. Archibald, British Consul, made a demand on 
the part of his government for the surrender of McDonald, 
and had orders to aid the Bank of England agents, Messrs. 
Blatchford, Seward & Da Costa, in procuring his extradition. 
Mr. J. R. Fellows, the present District Attorney of New York 
City, Charles W. Brooke, and Mr. J. R. Dos Passos acted as 
counsel for McDonald. 

The legal proceedings lasted from the 20th of March to 
the 5th of June, 1878. The array of counsel on both sides 
made it a forensic contest between giants, in which all past 
history was invoked for precedents, pro and con. These two 
extradition cases caused international complications, in which 
ambassadors and consuls took an active part. I have the 
McDonald case complete in all its details, but not the space 
.to record the full legal proceedings. 

After United States Commissioner Gutman had finally 


IN FORT COLUMBUS. 


259 

decided to surrender him to the demand of the British 
government, appeal was made to the United States Circuit 
Court, Judge Woodruff, then to the Supreme Court, Judge 
Barrett, before whom McDonald was brought by writs of 
habeas corpus; but the commissioner’s decision was sustained, 
McDonald was sent to Fort Columbus for safe keeping, while 
counsel were vainly arguing on new writs of habeas corpus 
and certiorari , and before any conclusion could be reached, 
he was hurried away by his custodians. He had scarcely time 
to bid good-bye to his counsel, when he was handcuffed to a 
United States officer, and with him crowded into a carriage in 
Chambers Street, guarded by Chief Deputy Marshal Kennedy 
and Deputies Robinson and Crowley, and driven rapidly down 
Broadway to the Battery, so that the large crowd who gathered 
to witness his departure from the metropolis had very little 
time to feast their eyes. 

McDonald was lively and chatty during the ride, smoked 
his Havana, and looked through the windows of the barouche 
as freely as if his hands were unshackled. He was transferred 
from the battery to Governor’s Island by a tugboat, and sub¬ 
sequently handed over by the deputy marshals to the charge 
of Major J. P. Roy, who had him escorted to Fort Columbus, 
and saw him placed in one of the casemates, under the vigi¬ 
lance and charge of two guardsman and the surveillance of 
Deputy Marshal Robinson, and the English detective, Mr. 
Webb. Lieutenant J. W. Bean had him furnished with nec¬ 
essary requirements, and the deputy marshal and English 
detective with sleeping apartments near by. 

The following morning, United States Marshal Fiske, with 
Deputies Crowley and Purvis, Mr. Peter Williams, solicitor 
of the Bank of England, Sergeant Edward Hancock, a Lon¬ 
don detective, Deputy Marshal Colfax, and others, boarded the 
steam-tug P. C. Schultze at the Battery, and steamed across 
to Governor’s Island. At half-past ten o’clock, Captain J. W. 
Bean, on post at the fort, received through Major J. P. Roy 
the following order from United States Marshal Fiske: 


260 


THE U. S. MARSHAL'S ORDER. 


Major J. P. Roy, United States Army, Commanding Fort Columbus : 

Sir, — You will please deliver to Deputy United States Marshal 
John Robinson, the prisoner George McDonald, now in custody, 
and oblige, Oliver Fiske, United States Marshal. 

On receipt of the above official notice Captain Bean pre¬ 
pared to deliver up the prisoner to the charge of United States 
Marshal Fiske and his party, who had by this time arrived at 
Fort Columbus, and were waiting at the doors of the casemate. 
The sentries paced the iron balconies with uninterrupted 
attention to duty, apparently unconcerned about the exigency 
on hand. 

McDonald immediately recognized his visitors and un¬ 
derstood the object of their visit, greeting them cordially as 
they entered the gloomy corridor. He looked, as usual, in 
good spirits, with some slight furrows of trouble and care 
upon his forehead, and a sort of distressing and affected mood 
of indifference in his deportment. 

Captain J. W. Bean read to him the order of United 
States Marshal Fiske to Major J. P. Roy, and then delivered 
him over to United States Marshal Fiske’s charge, with whom 
he descended the steps from the balcony of the fort, and 
marched, with a deputy at either side, through the tiled path¬ 
ways and groved and shaded avenues, to the wharf at the 
other end of the island, where the Schultze was awaiting his 
arrival. A large crowd of spectators, soldiers, and civilians 
lined the wharf, lingering anxiously to see McDonald “ off.” 
But Mac walked very leisurely, smoked, laughed, and appeared 
in a state of unaccountable good humor. He reached the 
Schultze barge, however, in due time, shook hands with the 
deputies, marshals, sergeants, and detectives, and then went 
on board, and entered into conversation of some trivial kind 
with Messrs. Williams, Hancock, and Webb. 

It was nearly eleven o’clock when the Schultze steamed 
away from Governor’s Island wharf and whistled and rattled 
down the bay to await the arrival of the Minnesota , which lay 
at anchor during the forenoon near pier 46, North River, and 


A WEASEL ASLEEP. 


261 


did not sail until some minutes after twelve o’clock. The 
Schultze meantime waited, steaming around the lower bay 
until the Minnesota arrived. It was after half-past one o’clock. 
The sun was burning hot, and the browned and florid com¬ 
plexion of all showed its effects. The steam-tug neared the 
bulky and huge vessel, and McDonald was finally taken on 
board by United States Marshal Fiske and Deputy Marshals 
Robinson, Crowley, and Colfax, and given into the custody of 
the English detectives, Sergeants Webb and Hancock, who in 
return gave the usual receipt to Marshal Fiske. 

For the present, I leave Mac on the Atlantic, sailing 
swiftly eastward, to meet his terrible doom. 

A fitting finale to these remarkable extradition cases will 
be the following adventure, in which one of the English de¬ 
tectives figured rather ingloriously. 

The three Bow-Street officers, Inspectors Hayden, Han¬ 
cock, and Webb, expressed a desire to detectives Irving and 
Farley to be shown the sights of New York. Accordingly, 
these, acting in an unofficial capacity, accompanied their Eng¬ 
lish visitors upon a night’s round of the most notorious resorts. 
Previous to starting, however, the English officers were 
advised to leave their watches and other valuables at the 
hotel, lest they should be stolen during the excursion. But 
Hayden, who was to sail for Havana a few days later to 
arrest Bidwell, scorned the idea, and set out for his night’s 
amusement. 

Towards morning he became sleepy, and taking a nap, he 
subsequently discovered that he had been robbed, not only of 
his watch and pocketbook, but also of the papers for the 
extradition of Bidwell, which he had foolishly carried in his 
pocket. Of course, he was greatly dismayed at the loss of 
these important documents, but they were returned to him by 
Superintendent Kelso, who had received them from Capt. 
Leary of the City Hall precinct. They had been surrepti¬ 
tiously left at the station-house on the day following the rob¬ 
bery. The watch and pocketbook were not recovered. 


Chapter XXVI. 


FIRST NIGHT IN NEWGATE — GOVERNOR JONAS — EXERCISE AT NEWGATE — DR. 
KENEALY — MR. GEORGE LEWIS — DAVID HOWELL, A “PATTERN” SOLICITOR — 
A FATAL CONCESSION ON MY PART — DON’T “SWOP HORSES WHILE CROSSING 
A STREAM” — HOWELL “ FEES ” BARRISTERS FOR US — HIS “MANAGEMENT” 
OF OUR CASE — HOWELL “HOLDS” MY DIAMOND STUDS — 108 WITNESSES — 
VISITORS AT NEWGATE — HOWELL’S “BENEVOLENT” CALLS — MISTAKEN IDEN¬ 
TIFICATION— LONDON ALDERMEN — ANOTHER PHASE OF “LIFE IN NEWGATE,” 
FROM “THE LONDON TIMES” — CAGED ANIMALS — ALFRED DE ROTHSCHILD 
AND ONE OF HIS “ FAMILIARS”—VISIT FROM THE RUSSIAN PRINCE IMPERIAL, 
THE PRESENT CZAR — LORD MAYOR WATERLOW AGAIN — THE PRINCE’S RETI¬ 
NUE — I CONTEMPLATE RETURNING HIS CALL AT ST. PETERSBURGH. 

T O be sure, I was not to be hanged, as was the man at 
that moment sitting on the bench in the “ condemned 
cell ” in the same ward. But that first night in Newgate! A 
sleepless one, indeed — given up to retrospections and vain 
regrets. I at last had reached that dread abode of which I 
had read so much; that place, the scene of so many horrors 
in the dim and misty past, whose history, extending over a 
period of eight hundred years — one long record of crime — 
had rendered the very name infamous. While lying restless 
on the pallet, with closed eyes, my mind wandered in a chaos 
until I almost fancied myself the victim of an oppressive 
nightmare. Opening them upon the cheerless surroundings, 
as seen by the gas-light shining dimly through the glass plate 
imbedded in the wall, dissipated the illusion, and the wdiole 
horror of my position surged anew through my seething brain. 
Toward morning, dropping off into fitful slumbers, I dreamed 
of happier days, only to awake each time with a start, to 
realize more fully the degradation I had brought upon myself. 

The next morning the governor (warden he would be 
called in the States) of Newgate, Mr. Jonas, since dead, came 

( 262 ) 



BOARD AND LODGING. 



263 

into my cell and said that if I did not wish to live on the jail 
fare, I could have food brought in from a restaurant, to the 
amount of half a crown per day — thirty cents’ worth — at 


my own cost. I thought this rather a small allowance, but 
Mr. Jonas explained that the jail regulations permitted no 
more. 

Governor Jonas also informed me that in anticipation of 
my arrival he had put a cot bed in the cell for me to sleep 
on, instead of the sailor’s hammock, which hangs from the 
side walls, and which, afterwards, I found so difficult a con¬ 
trivance to sleep in, and so easy to fall out of. Soon after I 
was taken to the doctor, who asked me if there was anything 
he could do for me; but I declined his services, with thanks. 
In the afternoon I was taken into the inner court, (see illus¬ 
tration, page 33), for an hour’s exercise, and a motley crew 
they were, walking round and round the court. While there, 
detectives came in every day to see if they could detect 


CONDEMNED TO BE HANGED. 














264 AGAIN BEFORE THE LORD MAYOR. 

among the “ new chums ” any old offenders, and seldom failed 
to call out several, as shown in the following cut. 

Not knowing any solicitor in London, I sent for George 
Lewis, whose name I had seen in the newspapers in connec¬ 
tion with criminal trials. The next day Noyes and myself 
were again before the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House, and 
after some sparring between Dr. Kenealy and Mr. G. Lewis 
on our behalf, and Mr. Freshfield on the part of the Bank, we 
were once more remanded to our cells in Newgate. 


A DETECTIVE IDENTIFYING OLD OFFENDERS AT NEWGATE. 

As some of my readers may not understand the distinction 
between solicitors and barristers, it may be well to explain 
that the solicitor takes the case and transacts all the business 
connected with it. A barrister is the lawyer who is employed 
by the solicitor to argue and conduct the case in court. He 
does not come in direct contact with the prisoner, but gets 
his instructions from the solicitor — all this being different 
from the system pursued in our own country. 

When Noyes found himself so unexpectedly in the grasp 
of the British Lion, not knowing any other solicitor, he sent 









ABE’S ADVICE DISREGARDED. 


265 


for Howell, the man who had charged him so exorbitant a fee 
for the articles of agreement between himself and “ Horton.” 
It was precisely this that prevented me from sending for him, 
on the principle that “ a straw shows which way the wind 
blows,” and it would have been well if on this and other 
occasions I had “ stuck to my text.” 

Although, very properly, talking was by the Newgate 
rules prohibited, still, like many other prison “prohibitions,” 
this was evaded. Noyes being with me in the same court¬ 
yard at exercise, asked me to give up Mr. Lewis and employ 
Howell, so that we could communicate safely with each other 
through him. To this I demurred, because my one interview 
with the former gentleman, together with his admirable con¬ 
duct upon the occasion of our first examination at the Man¬ 
sion House, had convinced me that he was not only a skillful 
but also a straightforward lawyer. However, Noyes arranged 
with Howell to have me called into the consulting-room. On 
entering, I saw before me an under-sized, spare man, with a 
sandy complexion, red hair, small, covetous eyes, and the gen¬ 
eral air of a Shylock ; and when he spoke, it was in a squeaky 
voice. After some preliminaries, he began to insinuate 
various things against Mr. Lewis, speaking of him as that 
“sheeney” (Jew), etc. Of course the strain of the previous 
days had somewhat affected my judgment, and to oblige 
Noyes I finally agreed to transfer my case into his hands. 
And a fatal concession it was. 

I have often wondered since, what possessed me to “ swop 
horses while crossing the stream,” especially as I had that 
famous saying of “ Honest old Abe ” in mind at the moment. 
Mr. Lewis would have guarded against the occurrences which 
caused us to get the life sentences. 

At this juncture another brother, John Bidwell, an honest 
man, arrived in England, and brought with him some bonds 
— United States seven-thirties — to use in our defense. Not 
being posted in money matters, he placed $4,000 in Howell’s 
hands for him to sell, and use the proceeds in engaging bar¬ 
risters of the highest standing for our defense. 


266 


TRICKS OF A PETTIFOGGER. 


On one of Howell’s daily visits to Newgate to see us, he 
sounded me as to the price I thought he ought to receive for 
the bonds. Upon my asking him what he could sell them 
for, he said he had credited them at a price which was thirty 
per cent, under the market rate. I soon undeceived him as 
to his idea of our ignorance on that point, by informing him 
of the fact that John had sold, by my direction, since the 
14,000 was put into his hands, another lot of bonds for the 
full market price. This incident is only an introduction 
to others regarding this “ pattern ” solicitor, the reading of 
which will, I think, please and amuse Mr. Freshfield, the 
Bank of England solicitor, and the barristers whom Mr. 
Howell engaged to defend us. 

After he had received the 14,000, and <£300 Mr. Lewis 
had paid into his hands, he applied in open court for an 
allowance for our defense, to be paid out of funds taken away 
from us, on the ground that he had received nothing from us, 
and consequently could not pay the barristers. Accordingly 
the judge ordered that <£100 for each one of us four should 
be refunded. We had directed Solicitor Howell to secure the 
services of barristers who stood high in their profession, such 
as Mr. Powell, Q. C. (Queen’s Counsel), Mr. Besley, Mr. 
Mclntire, Q. C., Mr. Moody, Mr. Ribton, and Mr. Hollings; 
and to pay the Q. Cs. each <£100 or <£150 fees, and the others 
in proportion. During the trial I ascertained that Howell 
had, instead of payment, enlisted their sympathies, and on 
the ground that he had only the £300 allowed by the court 
to the three of us whom he represented — McDonald having 
wisely secured the services of an honorable solicitor, St. John 
Wentner — induced them to work almost for nothing. 

We being foreigners, and the case an important one, the 
barristers stepped over the usual bounds and took suggestions 
directly from us, an example of which may be seen in the 
illustration, page 49, in which McDonald is speaking with 
his barrister, Mr. Straight. They are very good likenesses of 
the lawyer and client in 1873. 


FURTHER TRICKS. 


267 


Before being arrested, I had sent Mr. George Lewis £300, 
to use in the defense of Noyes. To show the difference 
between Mr. Lewis and Howell—who spoke disparagingly of 
him and took the meanest course to get my case out of his 
hands, as previously mentioned — when Mr. Lewis ascertained 
that Noyes had already sent for Howell, he paid over to the 
latter the £300, instead of showing my note to Noyes, which 
would have secured the case and the £300 to himself. It 
will be seen by the above that at the time Solicitor Howell 
applied for an allowance of money, he had above £1,000 in 
his hands, which, with the £300 allowed by the court, made 
£1,300, the greater part of which he applied to his own use 
and benefit, paying out but a small part of it in the prepara¬ 
tion of a proper defense. He managed the case on our side, 
according to my observations, exactly as Mr. Freshfield would 
have desired in order to carry out the latter’s theory, exon¬ 
erating the Bank managers from a charge of neglect, etc., as 
elsewhere explained. 

A copy of the book of depositions taken before the Lord 
Mayor was given to me by Solicitor Howell, with the request 
that I would memorandum on the broad margin left for the 
purpose, any criticisms of the evidence I might wish to make 
for the guidance of the lawyers. Accordingly I worked at it 
from the close of the examination, the 2d of July, during 
a month, and showed where the witnesses against me had 
contradicted themselves — engravers swearing they had en¬ 
graved letters which appeared on the false bills, that I could 
have proved another had actually done, etc. — so that their 
evidence must have been thrown out. Yet Solicitor Howell 
suppressed all this. I also gave him an order for a set of 
diamond studs, valued at $1,000, to hold for me, and he has 
“ held ” them ever since. A few moments previous to the 
sentence I ascertained that he had received them, and was 
then wearing them in his shirt-front. They were set in black 
enamel, and doubtless our barristers whom he defrauded out 
of their just fees may have since observed what a sparkling 


268 


‘ BUSINESS IN THE JAIL ” 


light in the profession he had suddenly become. These and 
other circumstances convinced me, before the eight days trial 
at the Old Bailey was half over, that Solicitor Howell was 
playing into the hands of the prosecution, and, to prevent 
discovery of his malappropriation of money and valuables to 
the amount of $10,000, connived to get us put out of the way 
for life — especially me, whom he feared had penetrated his 
designs. 

All this was so clear that on the seventh day of the trial 
I determined to get up in open court and expose the whole 
matter, but on taking counsel with one of the barristers he 
dissuaded me from my purpose. I hope that he used the 
information I then gave him to extract from Solicitor Howell 
just fees for himself and his brother barristers. 

It was Solicitor Howell who gave Governor Jonas infor¬ 
mation, exaggerating something I said to him, thus causing 
the great scare during the trial about an alleged plan of 
escape. 

During the five horrible months I was awaiting trial, it 
was a great relief to be called out of my cell into the consult¬ 
ing-room every day to pass five or ten minutes with Solicitor 
Howell, and for a long time my opinion of his character as 
first formed was modified by such a proof of his considerate 
kindness. But after he had made about one hundred visits I 
ascertained that he was charging ten dollars each visit, 
though I had on several occasions endeavored to ascertain 
whether he was charging for them, but was put off with a 
laugh and the remark: “ 0, I have business in the jail.” 

It was a relief to be called out of my cell, no matter for 
what purpose. Upon several occasions I was turned out into 
the yard with a dozen other prisoners, as shown in illustra¬ 
tion, page 65, in order that a person or persons should be 
compelled to point out from among a number the one against 
whom he was to testify, or whom he accused of some offense. 
Of course the above way is a fair one to accused and accuser, 
and is the usual plan in England; but in my own case, on 


NEWGATE RESTRICTIONS. 


269 


more than one occasion, some one of the one hundred and 
eight witnesses were brought to identify me while I stood in 
the dock at the Mansion House, many of whom professed to 
having seen us but once or twice several weeks or months 
previously. 

Another great relief from the monotony of my cell was 
the advent of a visitor. In the illustration, page 81, are 
seen the prisoners with their faces pressed against the wire 
grating — the meshes being about one-quarter inch square — 
talking to their friends who have come to visit them, the 
space between the two wire gratings being four feet. An 
officer stands at one end or paces back and forth in this space 
to prevent any small article or written communication from 
being passed across by use of a slender cane or wire, etc. 
But I found that there, as elsewhere, a judicious application 
of “ backsheesh ” would enable me to pass to my relative such 
private instructions as I did not wish other eyes to see. I 
took pleasure in evading such an unjust restriction, pre¬ 
venting prisoners who had not even been examined, indicted, 
tried, or convicted — in many cases only held on suspicion — 
from communicating freely with their friends. Prisoners are 
not permitted to see the newspapers, and are kept wholly in 
the dark as to what is going on in the world, just the same as 
if they were already convicts. 

In our own country all this is different. A prisoner con¬ 
fined in jail awaiting trial is permitted all proper indulgences, 
such as visits without listeners, food, fruit, newspapers, etc. 
Even in the Tombs, the New York city prison — that well- 
named sink of iniquity — visitors are admitted to stand at 
the cell door, as seen in the illustration, and talk to their 
heart’s content. The bars leave spaces of four or five inches 
square so that the visitor can at least squeeze the fingers of 
the incarcerated friend. To show the difference: Being 
rather dyspeptic I felt the need of some fruit, and when Gov¬ 
ernor Jonas made his round one day I asked him to let some 
fruit be purchased for me, with some of my money then in his 


2T0 


AN UNFRUITFUL REQUEST. 


possession. Hq informed me that it was not in his power to 
grant my request, and referred me to the visiting magistrate, 
I think Alderman Sir Robert Carden, saying that he would 
bring him to me when he came to the prison. A day or two 
later my cell door was thrown open and in stepped the gov¬ 
ernor accompanied by the alderman. I stated my want, and 
after some conversation, he wound up by saying: “ I can see 
that you are a gentleman, and I will talk to the governor 
about it, but such a thing has not hitherto been permitted.” 

Whatever may have been the nature of his subsequent 
conversation with Mr. Jonas, I got no fruit, and I think I 
have remarked elsewhere that from the moment of my arrest 
to my discharge, nearly fifteen years later, the only “ fruit ” I 
ever had consisted of potatoes and cabbage. Think of that, 
ye gourmands, and beware ! 

The following extract from the London Times of July 2, 
1873, illustrates another phase of life in Newgate: 

(Extract from the last day’s examination before the Lord Mayor.) 

THE PRISONERS, GEORGE AND AUSTIN BID WELL, 
EDWIN NOYES, AND GEORGE McDONALD, 

AT THE MANSION HOUSE. 

The prisoner George Bidwell said he had an application to make 
to his Lordship (Mayor Waterlow). He had now been three 
months in Newgate, undergoing the most rigorous solitary con¬ 
finement, and on twenty-three occasions he had been pilloried in that 
dock. His position was greatly saddened by the fact that one who 
was so near and dear to him as his brother was should 1 have been 
placed at his side on the same charge, and under circumstances 
which he desired to say were caused by himself alone. His brother 
was many years his junior, and owing to family misfortunes, he 
and several others had been placed, when quite young, under his 
charge (G. B’s). He found, according to the rules of Newgate, two 
persons were sometimes permitted to occupy the same cell during 
some part of the day, and he asked that the privilege be granted to 
him and his brother. He appealed to his Lordship that this last 


PEIS ONERS' APPLICA TIONS. 


271 


boon — this last gleam of sunshine which they might ever he per¬ 
mitted to enjoy, — might be grafted, — remembering that, in case 
of conviction, they would be forever separated from each other. It 
would be impossible for him to long survive the imprisonment which 
would follow a conviction. Austin also made the same request. 



VISITOR TRYING ON THE HANGMAN’S IRON PINIONING BELT AT NEWGATE. 


The Lord Mayor said it rested not with him, but with the visit¬ 
ing justices, who were this month Aldermen Sir William Rose and 
Lusk. 







































































272 


VISITORS. 


The prisoner Noyes applied that a small ring given him by his 
sister before he left America should be returned to him. He had 
not applied before because he expected to be free. The Lord 
Mayor ordered it to be returned to him.” 

In accordance with the Lord Mayor’s statement I had ap¬ 
plied to the alderman above named, but my application failed 
— they avoiding a direct refusal by an “ I’ll see about it,” 
which I afterward found to be the hackneyed phrase regard¬ 
ing most applications. From July 2d, until August 18th, we 
were kept rigorously secluded, and though we were to be 
tried together, could have no opportunity for concerting 
a mutual defense. Had we been permitted to be together a 
few hours more or less every day, I could have prevented 
Austin from being taken in by the warders’ imaginary plan of 
escape from Newgate. We were not even permitted to exer¬ 
cise in the same court-yard together. 

I was “favored” — people are curious to see caged ani¬ 
mals of all descriptions — with numerous calls, not of the 
exact kind depicted in the accompanying cut, where the 
gentleman is trying on$he hangman’s irons for the “ amuse¬ 
ment” of the ladies, but from some of the “ great guns ” of 
the universe; jnen, but for whose aid the world would cease 
to revolve, judging by the way some people cringe to their 
superiors in wealth—perhaps inferiors in all other qualifi¬ 
cations. 

One day, soon after my arrival in Newgate, a warder 
unlocked my cell door, and informed me that I was wanted 
in the consulting-room. Upon entering, I saw two men of the 
most opposite appearance — evidently a god and a demon. 
Alfred de Rothschild was a well-built man, above the medium 
height, with auburn hair, blue eyes, and a rather pleas ng 
expression of countenance, save that he looked as though he 
had been up late nights. He had the air of a gentleman, and 
I found him possessed of the manners and language charac¬ 
teristic of one, whatever his worldly circumstances. He was 
seated near one end of the desk which ran across the room 

























































































































MAN AND MONSTER. 


273 


opposite the door. Seated at the opposite end was an under¬ 
sized man with a face on him such as I had never seen. He 
was evidently one of the “ familiars ” or followers — the 
usually unseen “ shadows ” and protectors — with whom 
money and other kings have, in all times, been obliged to 
surround themselves. His face was of an exaggerated He¬ 
brew type, his nose an eagle’s beak, the eyes prominent, 
large, black, and lustrous, with very arching brows—the 
whole expressive of a diabolical cunning which could only 
belong to a Faust and a Mephistopheles combined. His one 
rapid penetrating glance at me as I entered the door, evi¬ 
dently satisfied him that it would be safe to let me ap¬ 
proach and speak with his master face to face. At the 
moment, not taking in the object of his presence, without 
halting I took a chair by the side of Mr. de Rothschild. 
The wardens stood outside, covertly peering in through the 
sash which formed the walls of the room, curious to fathom 
the design of a visit from so great a money-king. The pre¬ 
cise object of his visit I do not remember, but I took ad¬ 
vantage of the occasion to see whether anything could be 
done to relieve Noyes and my brother Austin from the 
probable consequences of their connection with McDonald 
and myself. 

During the interview, I said : “ Mr. Rothschild, I believe 
most other men placed in the same circumstances, would have 
done much as I have. I was brought up honestly, and the 
greater part of my life I have been an honest man. I have 
plunged myself into a gulf of misery and degradation, but 
mark my words, I shall live to redeem my character, and, if 
force of will counts for anything, I shall not die until that end 
is accomplished.” 

I have worked, suffered, and lived through fifteen years, 
the resolve then expressed being a beacon light — a light 
which for long years, though shining brightly, appeared very 
dim from its vast distance away, and at times it seemed to 
my wavering eyes to flicker and become extinguished, leav- 
18 


274 


A SUSPICIOUS MOVEMENT. 


ing me in the darkness of despair. Having been protected 
from birth against every rough wind, Mr. Alfred de Roths¬ 
child could see nothing in me worth saving, and the future 
will decide if he was right. 

0 ye mighty of the earth! who are yourselves living in 
luxury — even all who are going through life untroubled by 
unending struggles for existence — continue unobserving, 
thoughtless, and blind to the great ocean of misery ever ebb¬ 
ing and flowing beneath the placid surface of society, until 
the billows of socialism or anarchy suddenly overwhelm all in 
a common ruin! 

A few days later the Lord Mayor Waterlow entered my 
cell alone. I had already been before him several times at 
the Mansion House. Ido not remember what induced him to 
make the visit in question, unless to see for himself how I 
was standing the terrible ordeal, or to judge if I was the des¬ 
perado I had been represented. At all events, his manner 
was very affable, and he appeared much interested in the con¬ 
versation until, as we were standing face to face, I put my 
hand to my breast pocket to get a letter or paper to illustrate 
something I had been saying. Seeing the movement of my 
hand, he suddenly stepped sidewise, out of the cell 'door. 
Why he did so flashed through my mind instantly, and I 
was so shocked that I should be taken for an assassin that I 
could not continue the conversation. 

Whether he went and reported me as having an intention 
to assassinate him, I know not; but the circumstance led 
me to think, “If that is their idea of my personal character, 
what kind of a chance do I stand for an unprejudiced trial ?” 
In the subsequent trial Justice Archibald ruled against us 
in every objection made by our counselors, and granted every 
objection or request of the prosecution. But that Imperial 
Power, the Bank of England, was against us. 

On another day the Lord Mayor was doing the honors 
of the city to the Russian Prince Imperial, the present Em¬ 
peror. He brought him to my cell accompanied by a retinue 


THE PROSPECTIVE CZAR. 


275 


of aristocrats, of course the class for whom the world and all 
it contains was created — I mean its pleasures and the dolce 
far niente , not its pains and labors. 

I presume the Lord Mayor wished him to see me as an 
example of one of the products of modern financial civiliza¬ 
tion. The retinue remained gazing through the door at me, 
while the Prince stepped inside preceded by the Lord Mayor 
Waterlow, who put the “ animal ” through his paces, no doubt 
much to the Prince’s edification. 

The Prince was condescendingly gracious enough to ask me 
some questions in perfect English, but really, though a 
wretched prisoner, I could get up no feeling of gratification 
at his notice beyond what I should have felt at the notice of 
any gentleman of education and refinement, and such an one 
the Prince surely was. I think I am entitled to call him an 
old friend, and to visit him at my earliest convenience in St. 
Petersburg. 



Chapter XXVII. 


HELD FOR TRIAL — THE FATAL “NOT GUILTY” — A “ TIMES” EDITORIAL — NOYES’S 
LETTER TO HIS BROTHER READ IN COURT—A TOUCHING SCENE — DEATH OF 
DETECTIVE M’KELVIE, WHO SECURED MY ARREST IN EDINBURGH — THE LORDS 
STIRRED UP. 


N the 2d of July, 18T3, occurred the last of the twenty- 



three preliminary examinations before the Lord Mayor 
Waterlow. It was, all together, an ordeal which I trust no 
young man who reads this book will ever be called upon to 
endure. Pilloried in the dock day after day, exposed to the 
gaze of unsympathetic and curious crowds of people, who 
coldly speculated as to the result of the trial, and endeavored 
to penetrate, by dint of staring, through the cloak of impassi¬ 
bility with which the prisoner attempts to hide his real feel¬ 
ings. When the Lord Mayor at last announced that we were 
to be held for trial, the knowledge that I should remain 
undisturbed for the month or more before it could take place 
seemed like a respite. 

I had made up my mind to plead guilty, believing that by 
doing so I should give the others a chance of escape, as their 
advocates could throw the onus on me. I had ascertained 
that we should be taken to plead to the indictments before 
Judge Chambers, and was assured by the experienced prison 
warders that if I pleaded guilty he would not give me more 
than seven years. But such a course on my part would have 
spoiled the “ big case ” which the Bank agents had spent so 
much time and money in getting up in order to let our fate 
be a warning to all who dared think of meddling with British 
money-bags. I believe, and always shall until assured to the 
contrary by Mr. Freshfield, that these latter had a potent 


( 276 ) 



THE HAND OF HO WELL. 


277 


“influence” in causing Solicitor Howell to oppose my plan of 
pleading guilty, but as what he could say had no effect on my 
decision, he doubtless instructed my barrister, Mr. Besley, in 
whom I placed confidence, to advise me not to carry out my 
intention. Accordingly on Tuesday, the 12th of August, we 
were taken before Judge Chambers, and when I in my turn 
stood up to plead, Mr. Besley stepped up to the dock and said 
to me, in a low tone of voice: 

“ I hope you are not going to plead guilty?” 

Such a remark from such a source, at that moment, stag¬ 
gered me; the clerk of the court was waiting my reply, and I 
blurted out the fatal words, “Not guilty” — words which cost 
me the possibility, nay, the probability, that I should never 
again see the outside of prison walls. Does it stand to reason 
that a gentleman like Mr. Besley would have caused me to do 
such a thing unless Solicitor Howell had instructed him to 
that effect, when even I could see that it was a foregone con¬ 
clusion that I was to be convicted? 1 only mention these 
things to show that however cleverly a man may arrange his 
rascalities, “something ” will happen by which in the end he 
meets his just deserts. 

As a proof of this, in my own case, I will now give an 
account of the trial, which I have procured from an authentic 
source, and which will doubtless prove of interest to many 
outside of the legal profession. 

I shall intersperse some criticisms and explanations — not, 
however, in the way of exculpations, but to show where prose¬ 
cutors and witnesses made mistakes in facts, identifications, 
etc. I first introduce the account of the trial by the following 
editorial from the London Times of August 13,1873: 

THE BANK FORGERIES. 

Monday next has been fixed for the trial of George Bidwell, 
Austin Bidwell, George McDonald, and Edwin Noyes, the four 
Americans who stand charged with the gigantic forgeries on the 
Government and Company of the Bank of England. The prisoners 


“TIMES” EDITORIAL. 


278 

will be arraigned before Mr. Justice Archibald, at the Central 
Criminal Court, and the trial will probably last the whole week. 
Meanwhile, the voluminous and circumstantial depositions taken 
before the Lord Mayor at the Justice Room of the Mansion House 
by Mr. Oke, the Chief Clerk, have been printed for the conven¬ 
ience of the presiding judge and of the counsel on both sides. 
They extend over 242 folio pages, including the oral and docu¬ 
mentary evidence, and make of themselves a thick volume, together 
with an elaborate index for ready reference. Within living mem¬ 
ory there has been no such case for length and importance heard 
before any Lord Mayor of London in its preliminary stage, nor 
one which excited a greater amount of public interest from first to 
last. The Overend-Gurney prosecution is* the only one in late 
years which at all approaches it in those respects, but in that the 
printed depositions only extended over 164 folio pages, or much 
less than those in the Bank Case, in which as many as 108 wit¬ 
nesses gave evidence before the Lord Mayor, and the preliminary 
examinations — twenty-three in number from first to last — lasted 
from the first of March until the 2d of July, exclusive of the time 
spent in remands. 

Those remands, of necessity, were unavoidable, having regard 
to the complex character of the forgeries and to th& circumstance 
that two of the chief conspirators fled the country on the eve of 
the discovery, a circumstance which led to much tedious delay, 
first in capturing them and then in applying extradition treaties 
to their cases, and bringing the prisoners to England. Edwin 
Noyes, who was first arrested in this country, has been in custody 
continually since the first of March last, upwards of five months, 
and the remaining three for periods varying from the 3d of April. 
In the case of two prisoners, Austin Bidwell and George McDon¬ 
ald (apprehended in Havana and the United States respectively), 
the tedious delay, consequent upon the extradition proceedings, was 
further aggravated by long sea voyages to this country, where the 
prisoners were at length given up to justice by their respective 
governments. Upon Noyes, in particular, the protracted confine¬ 
ment preceding trial appears to have told considerably. During 
the last examinations before the Lord Mayor, he seemed exceed¬ 
ingly careworn and anxious. There, from first to last, it may be 
observed he always behaved in a manner entitling him to respect, 


“FATHER AND MOTHER.'' 


279 


apart from the crime of which he is charged, his demeanor being 
altogether free from unseemly levity. As a rule, too, during the 
preliminary examinations George and Austin Bid well conducted 
themselves well before the Court. 

Once during one of the concluding remands, Noyes, for some 
moments and for the first time, became fairly unmanned. Towards 
the end of a long day, while a letter of his written to his brother, 
and in which kindly references were made to his father and mother, 
was being read by Mr. Chabot, the expert in handwriting, he burst 
into tears which he tried in vain to conceal, and sobbed like a child 
at the recital of a passage in which he rejoiced at the prospect of 
keeping the homestead together for the family. It may be men¬ 
tioned as an incident in the case, that a witness named James 
M’Kelvie, a private detective in Edinburgh, who was mainly 
instrumental in arresting the prisoner George Bidwell in that city, 
has died since he gave his evidence before the Lord Mayor. The 
circumstance, however, is not likely to affect the issue. 

Much satisfaction has been felt and expressed by all interested 
in the integrity of commercial transactions, at the prompt and cor¬ 
dial co-operation of the Governments of the United States and 
Spain with our own Government, in the steps necessary to bring 
to justice the persons suspected of complicity in the great fraud 
recently effected upon the Bank of England. Our own foreign 
office, under the direction of Mr. Hammond, Lord Enfield, and 
Lord Tenterden, took up the subject with an energy which con¬ 
trasts strongly with the apathy popularly attributed to it, and at 
once telegraphed to Sir E. Thornton at Washington, and to Mr. 
Layard at Madrid, urging them to use their utmost influence to 
induce Mr. Fish, American Minister in Madrid, and Senor Castello, 
Spanish Minister, to arrest the delinquents, while their appeals 
were as strongly seconded from this side by Gen. Schenck and 
Senor Moret, Spanish Minister at Washington. 




Chapter XXVIII. 


REPORT OF THE TRIAL AT THE “ OLD BAILEY” — FIRST DAY, MONDAY, AUGUST 18 , 
1873 —THE LEGAL TALENT ENGAGED—ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST POSTPONE¬ 
MENT— TRIAL MUST PROCEED—THE JURY — MR. GIFFORD, Q. C., OPENS THE 
CASE FOR THE PROSECUTION — HE OUTLINES THE PLOT—GIVES A SYNOPSIS 
OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS — AUSTIN’S LETTER TO MAC — MY OWN LETTER TO 
MAC — “A HELL’S CHASE AND NO MISTAKE ” —ADJOURNED FOR LUNCHEON. 

O N the opening of the August sessions of the Central 
Criminal Court, this morning at eleven o’clock, the four 
Americans, George Bidwell, forty years of age, merchant— 
George McDonald, twenty-eight years of age, described as a 
clerk — Austin Bidwell, twenty-five years of age, described as 
merchant’s clerk — and Edwin Noyes H twenty-eight years 
of age, called a clerk — were put upon their trial before Mr. 
Justice Archibald, for the forgeries on the Governor and 
Company of the Bank of England. The court was much 
crowded from the beginning, and continued so throughout 
the day. Alderman Sir Robert Carden, representing the 
Lord Mayor, Mr. Alderman Finis, Mr. Alderman Bcsley, 
Mr. Alderman Lawrence, M. P., Mr. Alderman Whetham, 
and Mr. Alderman Ellis, as commissioners of the court, 
occupied seats upon the bench, as did also Alderman Sheriff 
White. 

Sheriff Sir Frederick Perkins, Mr. Under-Sheriff Hewitt, 
and Mr. Under-Sheriff Crosley, Mr. R. B. Green, Mr. R. W. 
Crawford, M. P., Governor of the Bank, Mr. Lyall, Deputy 
Governor, and Mr. Alfred cle Rothschild, were present. The 

"Mote— I have caused certain portions of the following eight chapters, 
which contain an account of the trial, to be printed in italics, and it is to 
these, in general, that my interspersed comments refer.— G. B. 

( 280 ) x 



BANK OF ENGLAND PALLOR. 










































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE PERSONNEL. 


281 


members of the bar mustered in force, and the reserved seats 
were chiefly occupied by ladies. Mr. Hardinge Giffard, Q. C., 
Mr. Watkin Williams, Q. C., Mr. Poland, Mr. H. D. Green, 
Mr. J. H. Crawford (instructed by Messrs. Freshfield, the 
solicitors of the Bank) appeared as counsel for the prosecution. 

The prisoner George Bidwell was defended by Mr. Powell, Q. 
C., and Mr. Besley ; Austin Bid- 
well, by Mr. McIntyre, Q. C., and 
Mr. Moody (all instructed by 
Mr. Howell, solicitor) ; George 
McDonald, by Mr. Metcalf, Q. C., 
and Mr. Straight (instructed by 
Messrs. Wontner,solicitors), and 
Edwin Noyes by Mr. Bibton and 
Mr. Hollings (instructed by 
Mr. Howell). 

Mr. Powell, Q. C., addressing 
the judge, said he was instructed 
on the part of his client, George 
Bidwell, to apply to the court for a 
further postponement of the trial. 

There were no fewer than six- 

. • i , • , ,, R. W. CRAWFORD, M.P., GOVERNOR. 

teen indictments against the 

prisoners, charging them with offenses of the gravest magni¬ 
tude. The evidence was most voluminous and very compli¬ 
cated, and the preliminary inquiry before the Lord Mayor 
lasted from the 1st of March, when Noyes was arrested, until 
the 2d of July, when they were all committed for trial. On 
the 7th of August the prisoners were served with a notice by 
the Bank solicitor, to the effect that no fewer than ninety- 
three additional witnesses, whose names they gave, and “ divers 
other persons ” might possibly be called upon the part of the 
prosecution. Except in one or two cases, the prisoners were 
kept in the dark as to the nature of the evidence the new wit¬ 
nesses would give, and it was therefore impossible, without 
some investigation, to be prepared with a reply to it. Those 



282 


NEW WITNESSES. 


witnesses, it was stated, generally would be called to speak of 
banking or bill transactions with one or other of the prisoners 
abroad, or to produce letters written by them, and he need 
hardly say that these matters might, and doubtless would have 
an important bearing on the case. The prisoners had not had 


time to inquire into the evidence 
about to be given, or to instruct 
counsel with reference to it, and 
he submitted that it was only 
fair to them, under the circum¬ 
stances, that a further adjourn¬ 
ment should be granted. 



Assuming that the new wit¬ 
nesses would simply corroborate 
others already examined, the 
necessity for inquiry on the part 
of the prisoners was still very 
urgent, inasmuch as the pro¬ 
duction of such a mass of addi¬ 
tional evidence was almost an 


GEORGE LTALI,, DEPUTY GOVERNOR. adm ' SSi0n that th(5 depositions 


already taken failed in certain 


particulars or points that might be of importance to them. 
Looking at the fact that many of the witnesses lived on the 
Continent, and that only ten days’ notice had been given to 
the prisoners by the prosecution, he urged that it would be 
taking the accused, who were foreigners, at a very great disad¬ 
vantage if the trial was hurried on at that moment, and that 
there would be a serious risk, and that justice would not be 
done them. He added that the application was not made with 
any view to unnecessary delay. 

Mr. McIntyre, Q. C., supported the application on behalf 
of Austin Bidwell, observing that if the prosecution had, prior 
the last adjournment, formed an intention to call the new 
witnesses, they should, in fairness to the prisoners, have 
given them notice six weeks since. If, on the other hand, 


APPLICATIONS. 


283 

the existence of ninety-three witnesses had been discovered, 
or any necessity for calling them had transpired since that 
adjournment, the prisoners were certainly entitled, on every 
principle of justice, to an opportunity of defending themselves 
on the new points about to be raised. It was unfair to the 
prisoners to expect them to meet allegations which were not 
gone into before the committing magistrate, and of the sub¬ 
stance of which they were as yet unaware. 

Mr. Metcalf, Q. C., made a similar appeal on the part of 
George McDonald, urging that the case for the prosecution 
had been doubled in extent since it left the Mansion House, 
that many new heads of evidence were about to be opened, 
and that it had been impossible, during the nine or ten days 
since the notice had been served, to make any inquiry as to 
the statements the witnesses would be called upon to give. 

Mr. Ribton, on behalf of Noyes, said applications for post¬ 
ponement were very frequently made in that court, and were 
hardly ever opposed or rejected, especially when they came 
from persons in the dock. As for his own client (Noyes) his 
case differed materially from that of the others, and it was 
very unfair to be informed, at the last moment, that it was 
proposed to show the previous acquaintanceship of all the 
prisoners in America, seeing that the accused men had no 
opportunity of inquiring into the character of the persons 
who were about to give such evidence. He should have 
thought that the Bank authorities, acting, as it might be sup¬ 
posed they did, solely in public interest, and possessing inex¬ 
haustible resources, would have been ready to consent to such 
a reasonable application. 

Mr. Giffard, Q. C., for the prosecution, strongly resisted 
the applications. He pointed out that, although the case had 
lasted upwards of four months at the police court, the delay, 
if any, had arisen from the fact that Austin Bidwell had to be 
brought to this country from Havana, and McDonald from 
New York. The charge was in itself a very simple one, but 
the tracing of the various bills was somewhat complicated. 


284 


THE INDICTMENT. 


There was no legal obligation on the part of the prosecution 
to give the accused notice of fresh evidence, but such notice 
was invariably given out of mere fairness. It was quite 
impossible for any one at a preliminary inquiry to say what 
new witnesses might be forthcoming between the date of the 
committal and the trial, so it had been found in this instance. 
Of the new witnesses referred to, forty were bank clerks and 
others, who would, if necessary, give more formal proof on 
matters already investigated, and some of the rest would 
speak to the purchase by the prisoners of genuine bills at 
various places on the Continent, which were afterwards used 
as models for forged bills. 

There had been great difficulty in getting some of the wit¬ 
nesses from America and the Continent, and if the trial were 
again postponed there would certainly be a failure of justice. 
The application by the prisoners was simply made with a view 
to delay, and in the hope that some of the material witnesses 
would be wanting on a future occasion. He submitted with 
confidence that no cause for the delay had been shown. 

Mr. Justice Archibald, having taken time to consider his 
answer, said he had carefully weighed all that had been urged 
on the part of the prisoners, and he had come to the decision 
to refuse the application, having a very clear opinion that no 
injustice to the prisoners would ensue if the trial proceeded 
without delay. 

A jury having been empaneled and sworn, Mr. Avery, 
the clerk of arraigns, addressing them, said the prisoners 
were severally indicted for forging and uttering on the 17th 
of January last, a bill of exchange for <£1,000, purporting to 
be drawn by H. C. Streeter of Valparaiso, and accepted by the 
London and Westminster Bank, with the intent to defraud the 
Governor and Company of the Bank of England. In other 
counts he said they were charged in like manner with other 
forgeries, variously stated. 

Mr. Giffard then proceeded to open the case for the prose¬ 
cution. The prisoners he said were indicted for forging and 


THE CASE OPENED. 


285 


uttering a bill of exchange for £ 1,000, but that in reality 
formed but a very small part of the scheme, or fraud, which 
it would be his duty to lay before the jury. 

The charge against them was in substance that of uttering 
ninety-four bills of exchange, all of which were forged, and 
the effect of which was to obtain from the Bank of England 
very large sums of money. The jury would therefore at once 
perceive that they had to try a charge of fraud for which they 
might seek in vain a parallel in the criminal annals of the 
country. Such an enterprise, as might well be imagined, 
involved very considerable difficulties, but that all those diffi¬ 
culties were long contemplated the jury in the end would 
probably have no doubt, and as little doubt that they were 
surmounted with such consummate art as to produce a feeling 
of regret that the prisoners had not employed their talents to 
legitimate purposes in the ordinary business of life. More¬ 
over, that scheme of fraud, but for one of those accidents 
which had come to be embodied in various shapes in the com¬ 
mon proverbs of the country, was all but successful in the 
result. The jury would, therefore, perceive the class of 
men they had to try, how deeply they had laid their plot, 
and with what consummate skill they carried it into execu¬ 
tion. The prisoners George Bidwell, Austin Bidwell, and 
George McDonald, as would be proved, came to this country 
in the spring of last year to set on foot an original scheme of 
fraud. The first difficulty with which they had to contend was 
to procure an introduction to the Bank of England or to some 
first-rate bank , and at which they might discount bills. Austin 
Bidwell had been accustomed to deal with a respectable firm of 
tailors named Green, in Saville Row, and one day in May, 
1872, having made a purchase from them, he stated that he 
was about to depart for Ireland, and that he had a large sum 
of money in his possession, of which he wished them to take 
charge in his absence. Mr. Green declined the responsibility, 
and suggested that he (Bidwell) should place the sum on de¬ 
posit at the Western Branch of the Bank of England , where his 


286 


STORY OF THE FRAUD. 


firm banked. The suggestion was adopted, and he and 
Bidwell walked together to the bank, where they saw Mr. 
Fenwick, the sub-manager. Bidwell gave the name of Fred¬ 
erick Albert Warren, and having, deposited the money, he 
innocently inquired if, supposing he had any further sum to 
pay in, he need trouble Mr. Green who had introduced him, to 
come with him for that purpose. He was told that their 
account was henceforth his own and that he could pay in the 
money direct. The amount paid in upon that day was <£1,200, 
and the prisoner subsequently deposited a further sum of 
<£ 1,000. After that the account was allowed to rest until 
September, when the prisoner called at the bank, and requested 
Col. Francis, the manager, to sell for him X 8,000 worth of 
Portuguese three per cent, bonds. This was assented to, 
and the prisoner drew <£ 2,000 on account. During that 
interview with the manager the prisoner stated, casually, 
that he was an American contractor, or agent, charged with' 
the introduction on an extensive scale of Pullman’s sleeping- 
cars into this country, and upon the Continent, that he was 
about to build them at Birmingham, and that he hoped to 
have some of them running for the impending exhibition 
at Vienna. The prisoner's account at the bank went on 
synootlily and regularly and no particular attention was paid 
to it by the authorities. (See page 139 et seq.') 

It would be found that having obtained the all-important 
introduction to the Bank, and having overcome the preliminary 
difficulties, the next point with the persons concocting this 
gigantic fraud was to know what to forge. During September 
and October, therefore, they were actively engaged in various 
capitals and cities of Europe in making inquiries as to the 
solvency and status of various large commercial houses, and 
the amount of respect their bills were likely to command in 
London, and to acquaint themselves generally with the ordinary 
course of transactions there and in this country, so that they 
might be perfectly armed at every step of their way. [I did 
the whole of that work.—G. B.] About this time two of the 


your health: 


287 


prisoners became ill, and on the 5th of October Austin Bid- 
well wrote a letter to McDonald containing this passage : 
“ G. (meaning his brother) has just telegraphed if we shall 
not wait until you are completely restored, and in answering 
it I trust that you will not be governed by any thought that 
we want you to go on at once. Far from it; the first consid¬ 
eration is your health, and if necessary we will postpone busi¬ 
ness until Christmas, and if you require rest for ten days or 
more, for heaven’s sake take it; it might be highly dangerous 
for you to stir about. Then, we have a good capital, and when 
ready can largely increase it on short order. Above all 
things, if your health requires it let us wait, for business can¬ 
not be injured by delay; it is only a matter of resting for 
that time.” 

[In establishing his theory that the fraud was a long-con¬ 
templated one, Mr. Giffard made an effective usage of the 
letter from my brother; but it will be seen by reference to 
page 188 that the first inception of the “ scheme ” was not till 
on or about the 1st of November, nearly a month later than 
the date of my brother’s letter. The telegram referred to as 
from G. is one I sent from Amsterdam while prospecting in 
search of an opening for a “ speculation ” somewhere on the 
Continent.—G. B.] 

Mr. Giffard continued: The scheme had in consequence 
to be postponed, and the prisoners did not in fact commence 
active operations until Christmas. Between November and 
January George Bidwell, under the name of Gilbert, procured 
a large number of bills, which not only formed the model of 
the various forged ones, but, being paid into the Bank of Eng¬ 
land and duly honored, served to establish the mercantile 
credit of Warren there. It would be found also that either 
McDonald or Austin Bidwell, giving the name of Warren, 
went to Rotterdam and applied to a Mr. DeWael, a merchant 
there, for a draft on the London and Westminster Bank. 

He was told that there was only one person at Rotterdam 
entitled to draw on that bank, and that he charged highly for 


288 


“ CONSUMMATE SKILL.' 


it. Warren replied that lie did not mind the expense, but that 
he must have the bill on that particular bank, and pe accord¬ 
ingly left <£622 with Mr. DeWael to purchase a draft, giving 
as his address in London the Golden Cross Hotel. [Another 
case of mistaken identification. I transacted that business 
with Mr. DeWael.—G. B.] Bills to the amount of between 
£4,000 and £5,000 were obtained by the prisoners during 
tl;ese three months, their evident object being to get first-class 
paper and induce the bank to discount their bills. On the 
29th of November Austin Bidwell went to Col. Francis, and 
producing two genuine bills for £500, each accepted by 
Messrs. Suse & Sibeth, an eminent firm in London, asked him 
if he would discount paper of that sort. [Bills purchased for 
me by Mr. Pinto in Amsterdam. See Pinto^s evidence.—G. B.] 
The manager promised to make inquiries, and finding they 
were first-class bills he discounted them. The prisoners hav¬ 
ing thus, with consummate skill and at one stroke, obtained 
credit with the Bank of England and the models for the 
’forged bills which were to come, next provided for the distri¬ 
bution of the plunder and their means of escape. It was 
manifestly impossible that the money could be withdrawn in 
gold alone, and the prisoners no doubt felt that to receive it 
in bank notes was the most dangerous course they could 
adopt. 

The difficulty was surmounted by the opening by Austin 
Bidwell [By my direction.—G. B.], in the name of Charles 
Johnson Horton, of an account at the Continental Bank in 
Lombard Street, into which he could pay the money received 
at the Western Branch and then draw it out again in a differ¬ 
ent shape. The account was opened on the 2d of December 
[After McDonald’s “ great discovery.” See page 188.—G. B.], 
which day also introduced the jury to the fourth prisoner, Ed¬ 
win Noyes. He was in New York at the time, and the pris¬ 
oner, George Bidwell, telegraphed to him in effect to come 
over to this country on the next steamer without fail. 

The jury would probably find in the end that a fourth per- 


TRIAL OF THE FOUR AMERICANS AT THE “OLD BAILEY,” LONDON. 


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A FOURTH PERSONAGE, 289 

son had become absolutely necessary to the successful execu¬ 
tion of the scheme. 

George Bid well and McDonald had by that time become 
deeply concerned in it, and were thenceforward to be kept in 
the background. It was necessary, therefore, that some per¬ 
son who up to that time had been a stranger to the transac¬ 
tion should be introduced, and Noyes was selected for the 
purpose. On the 17th of December he arrived in England, 
and apparently without any luggage. In the ‘previous August 
McDonald had been in communication with him by telegraph , 
and the jury would see eventually whether Noyes was the 
stranger he affected to be. He arrived in London on the 
17th of December, and on the 18th or 19th he was dressed 
up for the part he had to play, and various precautions were 
taken to conceal his identity. It was absolutely astonishing 
to note in the progress of the fraud the number of aliases 
[see page 137] the prisoners, with the exception of Noyes, 
had occasion to assume. The jury would have occasion, as 
the trial proceeded, to note the intimacy which existed be¬ 
tween Noyes and the other prisoners, and would find that up 
to the 11th of January, from his first coming to this country, 
he was in the closest relations with them. On Christmas day 
there was a dinner party at which all the four prisoners were 
present. That was the state of things up to the end of Jan¬ 
uary. During December neither of the prisoners, George 
Bidwell nor McDonald, had been idle. Austin Bidwell was 
the person to open the account at the Western Branch of the 
Bank of England, and part of the plot was that he should be 
out of the country before the first forged bill was uttered. 
[See page 198.] The other prisoners, as to whom the Bank 
could have no information, were not only the persons who 
procured the models for the forged bills, but who actually 
forged them. 

The jury would find George Bidwell going to various 
engravers for that purpose. He [Mr. Giffard] would not 
describe each individual transaction of that kind; it would. 

19 


290 THE PULLMAN SHOPS AT BIRMINGHAM. 

suffice to say that whenever the prisoners obtained a genuine 
bill, they had the means in their own hands of counterfeiting 
it, by having recourse to engravers, and that by various expe¬ 
dients suspicion was disarmed. One of the forged bills pur¬ 
ported to be accepted at the London and Westminster Bank, 
and a stamp was fabricated so as to imitate that by which the 
genuine acceptance of the bank was accustomed to be made. 

It was necessary to protect the man Noyes, who was act¬ 
ing as Horton’s clerk, and it was therefore clearly impossible 
that he could have any connection with Warren’s account at 
the Bank of England. An extremely cunning device was 
then arranged. Austin Bidwell explained to Col. Francis 
that his workshops were being constructed at Birmingham, 
and that his presence there was necessary; and he stated that 
his bills, instead of being presented personally as hitherto, 
would be sent through the post in registered letters. The 
first letter was dated the 30 th of December [two months after 
the first inception of the fraud. See Chapter XIX. — G. B.], 
and contained ten genuine bills for <£4,307 3s. 6c?., all of 
which were discounted and subsequently honored. On the 
5th of January an advertisement was inserted in the news¬ 
papers, by Noyes, to' the effect that a gentleman of active 
business habits, and with a small capital of <£300, required 
a situation as clerk or partner, and answers were to be 
addressed to him at Durant’s Hotel, where he was then stay¬ 
ing. A great many answers were received, and McDonald 
called at the hotel personally. [Another mistake in identifi¬ 
cation, as it was not McDonald who called at the hotel.— 
G. B.] After he left, Noyes told the waiter that he was his 
future master, and that he had deposited <£300 with him as a 
guarantee for his good conduct. On the 11th of January a 
formal agreement was entered into between Charles Johnson 
Horton of London Bridge, a Pullman car manufacturer, and 
Edwin Noyes of Durant’s Hotel, merchant’s clerk, whereby 
Noyes agreed to serve the former as clerk and manager, at 
a salary of £150, the latter depositing a sum of £300 as 


THE ROTfISCHILD BILL. 


291 


security for the due performance of his duties and honesty, 
said sum to be returned without interest on his leaving. The 
agreement was witnessed by Mr. Howell, a solicitor in Cheap- 
side, who was now defending the prisoners, and it was found 
in Noyes’s possession on his arrest. It was evidently intended 
to shield him when the fraud was discovered, and when all 
the other parties had made their escape. Up to this time 
very good bills had been sent up to the Bank for discount, 
but before the forgeries commenced a grand coup was deter¬ 
mined upon. Accordingly Austin Bidwell, early in January, 
obtained a considerable quantity of foreign money and left 
London for Paris. On his way there he was considerably 
injured by an accident on the Great Northern Railway of 
France, but he turned the accident to account by introducing 
himself to Messrs. Rothschild, who had a close financial con¬ 
nection with the Railway Company. He induced them, against 
their ordinary practice, to sell him a bill of <£4,500, and with 
this he returned immediately to London. [I purchased all 
this foreign money in London, and sent Austin to purchase a 
bill from Rothschild, the railway accident having nothing 
to do with it, beyond influencing the bankers to accede to his 
request. — G. B.] He had an interview with Col. Francis, 
and in the course of it he complained in some degree that 
his bills were being unnecessarily watched, inasmuch as all 
which he had presented were of the highest possible char¬ 
acter. [Complained that his bills were being unnecessarily 
watched ! If that statement is well founded, it should have 
been quite sufficient to arouse suspicion and cause inquiry — 
but no forger would be so stupid. — G. B.] He then threw 
down the bill of Messrs. Rothschild, saying he supposed that 
would be good enough for the Bank. It not being advisable 
for him to confess that he had left Birmingham and obtained 
the bill in Paris, he stated that the injuries from which he 
was suffering had been caused by a fall from his horse. He 
also stated that his workshops at Birmingham were full of 
new sleeping-cars, and that he expected his transactions to be 
very large in the course of the ensuing month. 


292 GOOD LAW AND COMMON SENSE. 

The scheme involved not only the protection of the con¬ 
spirators but the safety of the plunder, and accordingly it 
was, beyond all doubt, arranged that he should be on his way 
out of the country before the first forged bill reached the 
Western Branch of the Bank of England. It had been sug¬ 
gested at the preliminary examination before the Lord Mayor 
that because Austin Bidwell was out of the country he was 
not amenable' for this offense. That was neither sound law 
nor common sense. There was a very old legal maxim that 
a man who did an act by another, did it by himself. The 
prisoner, Austin Bidwell, might have done what he did either 
at Rome or Kamtschatka, but he would be equally responsible, 
notwithstanding. 

[The Northern Railway accident, while on his journey to 
Paris, and his engagement, caused Austin to give up connection 
with the partially prepared fraud, and he was absent on his 
“ wedding journey.” See Chapter XX for particulars. But 
Mr. Giffard’s assertion is “ good law and common sense,” and 
should be a warning to any who contemplate perpetrating 
crime by proxy. — G. B.] 

On the 22d of January, 1873, in a letter "signed by Warren, 
dated on the 21st, came the first batch of forged bills to the 
Western Branch. That was the first experiment, and if it 
passed muster the scheme was successful. Austin Bidwell 
would then appear to have fled, and Noyes could set up the 
defense that he had merely acted as his clerk. The scheme 
was successful; the bills had been engraved by shilled artisans 
and had passed muster; the thing was done; and having got 
the first forged bills discounted, the next step was to operate 
on the account previously opened to get the plunder, and to 
escape. But having obtained so much money, how were they 
to deal with it? 

Notes could be traced. The scheme contrived was as 
artful as the rest of the fraud. Anybody presenting bank¬ 
notes at the Bank of England had a right to demand gold in 
exchange, but it might not be so generally known that the 


NOTES FOR GOLD-GOLD FOR NOTES. 293 

converse proceeding was equally easy, viz., that a person 
tendering gold at the Bank of England could receive its 
equivalent in notes. The device adopted in this case was 
this: 

One -of the prisoners went to the bank with notes and 
obtained gold for them. Another of them went on the same 
day and obtained notes for the gold; so that unless it could be 
shown that the two prisoners so actmg were associated in a 
common design the connection between the fraud and the 
property actually obtained by it was broken. That process was 
repeated to such an extent that between the 21st of January 
and the 28th of February, the notes changed into gold by 
Noyes amounted to no less than <£23,650, and the gold ex¬ 
changed for other notes by McDonald to £16,950. There 
was thus a large balance in favor of the amount in gold, but 
both it and the notes were afterwards expended in the pur¬ 
chase of United States bonds. Austin Bidwell left this coun¬ 
try in the middle of January, and was married to an English 
lady in Paris. And he seemed to have gone about France 
and Germany selling the bonds which had been bought in 
London and buying others with a view further to destroy all 
trace of the proceeds of the fraud. [If he did so it was with¬ 
out my knowledge. — G. B.] About this time, also, Noyes 
sent out £1,000 to some relations in America, and it was, 
therefore, idle to pretend that he was merely the innocent 
clerk of the other men/ 

The business up to this point was eminently successful, 
and the diligence of the prisoners in the previous December 
was not without its reward. 

From the 28th of January every bill which was sent to the 
bank was a forgery and had been fabricated on the model of 
the genuine bills, Messrs. Rothschild included, which had 
previously been discounted. 

The first batch amounted to £4,250 and was discounted 
on the 21st of January, and then came the following in quick 
succession. On the 4th of February, £11,072 ; 10th of Feb- 


294 


AN *!ACCIDENTAL WAY . 1 


ruary, £4,642; 13th of February, £14,696; 20th of February, 
£14,686; 24th of February, £19,253 ; and 28th of February, 
£24,265. The prisoner gave no address at Birmingham, but 
he explained that as he was staying with a friend a short dis¬ 
tance out o£ town he should like his letters addressed to the 
post-office there, and that was accordingly done. On Ihe 1st 
of February, McDonald deposited £1,200, part of the proceeds 
of the forgeries, with Messrs. J. S. Morgan & Co., the Ameri¬ 
can bankers, and drew it out again on the twenty-first of that 
month. One of the bank-notes in which the sum was paid 
had been traced into the possession of George Bidwell, and 
another was found upon Noyes at the time of his arrest. In 
this transaction, therefore, the four prisoners were concerned. 
The first forged bill would become due on the 25th of March, 
and it was so arranged that during the whole of the time the 
forged bills were pouring into the bank the genuine bills pre¬ 
viously discounted were becoming due and being paid. 

While the prisoners were making their arrangements to 
escape, the forgeries were discovered in the most accidental 
way. Two bills for £1,000 each, purported to be accepted by 
Mr. W. Blydenstein of Great St. Helens, had been made pay¬ 
able at sight, but curiously enough the date had been omitted, 
and the bank authorities suspecting nothing wrtmg, sent a 
clerk on to Mr. Blydenstein’s office to get the omission sup¬ 
plied. The moment the bills were seen the forgery was dis¬ 
covered, and the scheme of the prisoners was at an end. 
The bank found that Warren had been operating upon Hor¬ 
ton’s account at the Continental Bank, and by a mere 
accident the chief cashier of the bank happened to be making 
inquiries there when the .prisoner Noyes entered. He was at 
once pointed out and given into custody, and it was found 
that on the same day he had purchased £26,000 worth of 
American bonds, and had cashed a check of Horton’s for 
£5,000. What was his conduct when arrested ? He knew that 
both McDonald and George Bidwell were within the grasp of 
the law, but he made no disclosure, and he merely gave an 


THE “ PLANT ” DESTROYED . 


295 


address at Durant’s Hotel, where he had not slept for a fort¬ 
night. He thus allowed his confederates time to collect the 
plunder, then lying at his and their lodgings, and to send it 
to other countries, the result being that some part of it was 
still unrecovered. A day or two later Bidwell and McDonald 
went to a hotel at St. Leonard’s, and ordering a large fire to 
be prepared, they, as the prosecution alleged, destroyed all 
the plant used in the course of this scheme. [This is an 
error, it having been destroyed at Mac’s lodgings in Lon¬ 
don's previously stated. — G. B.] On the same occasion 
they sent to New York .£50,000 worth of American bonds in 
a trunk addressed to Major George Matthews, which has since 
been seized by the police. In the rooms occupied by McDon¬ 
ald in St. James Street, blotting-paper was found bearing 
impressions of the writing in some letters addressed to 
Austin Bidwell at New York, and of the stamps and endorse¬ 
ments of the forged bills, and a London directory was also 
discovered from which a list of engravers was cut. Mr. 
Giffard then went in detail into the circumstances of the pris¬ 
oner George Bid well’s escape into Ireland, of his ultimate 
arrest in Edinburgh, and read a passage in a letter addressed 
by him to George McDonald, as follows: 

Your friend has had a series of most extraordinary adventures 
since you saw him A hell’s chase and no mistake. His nerve 
has stood him through two taps on the shoulder, and four encoun¬ 
ters with detectives. He has been a Fenian, a priest, a professor, 
a Frenchman, a German, a Russian who could speak only "veree 
leetle Engles, mais un peu de Fra^ais et Allemand,” and a deaf 
and dumb man with a slate and pencil,— all in the space of a week. 

The learned counsel also described the prisoner’s unsuc¬ 
cessful efforts to get rid of some of the witnesses in the case, 
and his attempts to make sure that the property reached 
America safely. He also stated that George Bidwell had 
assumed sixteen different aliases. 

That he said was the case for the prosecution, and the 
jury would say by their verdict when they heard the evidence 


296 


“LES M1SERABLES” 


whether it was possible to entertain the smallest doubt that 
each and all of the prisoners combined together in carrying 
out their gigantic scheme, and having as they thought de¬ 
stroyed all traces of the proceeds, sought to betake themselves 
to another country, and there enjoy their ill-gotten gains. 

It being now five o’clock, and Mr. Giffard having finished 
his opening statement, after speaking upwards of three hours, 
the trial was adjourned until next morning, and the jury were 
escorted by a sworn officer of the court to the Cannon Street 
Terminus Hotel, to pass the night without separating. 

About one o’clock each day the court adjourned for 
luncheon. The illustrations will give an idea of what kind 
of a time the lawyers were having, while we poor wretches 
were put beneath into a large vaulted cell in the basement of 
the Old Bailey. Some food was brought in from a restau¬ 
rant, but none of us were in circumstances to feel jolly over 
our dinner. Neither of us could avoid the thought that a 
very slight turn in the tide of affairs, at some- period of his 
life, might have made him one of the laughing luncliers 

above, instead of a miserable below stairs. 

7 \ 




BENEATH OLD BAILEY COURT ROOM.— court adjourned for lunch. 




















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Chapter XXIX. 


THE TRIAL CONTINUED — SECOND DAY, TUESDAY, AUGUST 19th —MR. EDWARD HAMIL¬ 
TON GREEN, MASTER TAILOR, TESTIFIES — HOW DETECTIVES SOMETIMES MANU¬ 
FACTURE “ EVIDENCE ” — MR. EDWARD ELLIOT GREEN ALSO TESTIFIES — EXAM¬ 
INATION OF MR. ROBERT BLOOMFIELD FENWICK, SUB-MANAGER — COL. PERE¬ 
GRINE MADGWICK FRANCIS, MANAGER OF THE WESTERN BRANCH OF THE BANK 
OF ENGLAND — COMMERCIAL CORRESPONDENCE — A ROTHSCHILD’S SIGNATURE. 

A T the opening of the court at ten o’clock, the trial begun 
the day before continued to excite much interest. 

The first witness for the prosecution was Mr. Edward 
Hamilton Green, a master tailor and army clothier at 35 
Saville Row. He said, replying to Mr. Watkin Williams, Q. 
C., that he recognized Austin Bidwell and George McDonald. 
They called on him in April, 1872, with another person, and 
ordered some clothes, signing their names in a book. Austin 
Bidwell signed the name of F. A. Warren, and gave an address 
at 21 Enfield Road, Hagerston. McDonald signed Edward R. 
Swift, and gave the same address. The third person, named 
Sebert, did not sign. Witness made them a quantity of clothes. 
On the 4th of May, the two prisoners, Austin Bidwell and 
McDonald, called again in a cab with Sebert, and tried on the 
clothes which witness had made for them. The two prison¬ 
ers said they were about to visit Ireland, and were in a hurry 
to catch a train. Austin Bidwell said that he had more 
money than he thought prudent to leave at his lodgings, and 
that it amounted to about two thousand pounds, and he asked 
witness to take charge of it. Witness recommended him to 
some bank , adding that his bankers were close at hand , and he 
accompanied him to the Western Branch of the Bank of Eng¬ 
land, where witness keeps an account, and where they saw Mr. 

(297) 



298 


THE TAILORS TALE. 


Fenwick, the assistant manager. Witness introduced Austin 
Bidwell to him, and said he had a sum of money which he 
wished to deposit. Austin Bidwell had gone with witness 
alone. [The italicized words do not bear out Mr. Giffard’s 
statement in his opening speech, that Mr. Green suggested to 
Warren that he should “ deposit the sum in the Western 
Branch.” Reference to Chapter XIII will show that the 
opening of this account was a pure accident, and had nothing 
to do with a fraud yet unthought of.— G. B.] 

A bank signature book was brought, and in that the pris¬ 
oner wrote his name and address. Mr. Fenwick asked how he 
wished to be described, and he said as an agent. He then 
handed the money to Mr. Fenwick, who thereupon gave him a 
check-book. The prisoner said more money would be remitted 
to the Bank in a week or two. [The preceding words in ital¬ 
ics have no foundation whatever in fact, but it was necessary 
that the witnesses, Messrs. Fenwick and Green, should both 
“ remember ” that particular, or the theory of the prosecution 
could not be sustained. I, by no means, impugn the good 
faith of either gentleman, but every lawyer knows how easily 
witnesses, by subtle suggestions or acute questioning regard¬ 
ing events some months past, can be brought to fancy that 
they really remember a thing that would not be inconsistent 
with the circumstances of the interview in question. Detec¬ 
tives are adepts in getting up that sort of “ evidence.” — G. B.] 

He returned with witness to Saville Row, and the three par¬ 
ties then went away together in a cab. Witness had since 
seen them several times. The clothes they ordered were sent 
to the address given in Enfield Road, Hagerston. [Where I 
was lodging.— G. B.] 

By Mr. McIntyre in cross-examination :—The prisoner 
Austin Bidwell wrote his name and address as F. A. Warren, 
21 Enfield Road, Hagerston, in witness’s book. On the 4th of 
May there was more than one person with him when he came, 
and when they returned from the bank, there was more than 
one waiting for him. 


STUNNING ” NAMES. 


299 


He wanted to leave the money with witness, but witness 
declined the responsibility and offered to introduce him to his 
own banker. He had seen Austin Bidwell more than once 
before the 4th of May. Replying to Mr. Giffard, Q. C., wit¬ 
ness said the date of the first supply of clothes was the 18th 
of April. 

Mr. Edward Elliott Green, son and partner of the previ¬ 
ous witness, was called, and corroborated his father’s evidence 
in material points, and spoke to having seen Warren nearly 
twenty times at his father’s place of business in Saville Row. 
The third person who called gave no name and address. 



ENTRANCE TO BULLION VAULTS, BANK OF ENGLAND. 


Mr. Robert Bloomfield Fenwick, sub-agent to the Bank of 
England at the Western Branch, Burlington Gardens, was 
examined after Mr. Green. He said Mr. Edward Hamilton 
Green, the last witness but one, was a customer of theirs. 
On the 4th of May, Mr. Green came to the bank with a 
stranger, whom witness now recognized as Austin Bidwell, 
and who was introduced to him as Mr. Warren. Witness 






























300 ENGLISH TOURISTS TO BE FAVORED. 

was told he was an American gentleman who had a con¬ 
siderable sum of money, which he wished to deposit. The 
prisoner himself gave the name of Warren, and he wrote his 
name and address in the signature book. He first wrote 
F. A. Warren, and on the witness asking him to write his name 
in full, he wrote Frederick Albert Warren, and gave his 
address, the Golden Cross Hotel, Charing Cross. On being 
asked how witness was to describe him, he replied that he was 
there more on business for others than for himself. He at 
length described himself as a commission agent, and he 
opened an account with £1,200. Witness then gave him a 
check-book, and a credit slip was made out at the time in his 
presence. 

Witness said a pass-book should be prepared for him, and 
he believed he afterwards called for it. He said he should 
have more money to pay in [See Green’s evidence before and 
my criticism.— G. B.], and he asked if it should come through 
Mr. Green. Witness said it was not necessary. On the 7th 
of January last witness saw the prisoner, Austin Bidwell, 
again in the agent’s room of the bank, Col. Francis, the 
agent, being present. After some conversation, the prisoner 
then threw down on the agent’s table a bill of Messrs. Roths¬ 
child for £4,500 -saying: “ There, I suppose that is good 
enough paper for you.” 

He at first talked about sleeping-cars, and said he hoped to 
soon see English tourists going to the Vienna Exhibition in 
them. He also said he had the choice of three different fac¬ 
tories in Birmingham, and he added that he was going there 
at once, and hoped to commence business by the 1st of Feb¬ 
ruary. He mentioned a patent brake and also a signal light 
for the front of railway engines. On the bill being put down, 
he asked to have it discounted, and Col. Francis acceded to 
his request. 

That was a genuine bill and it was afterwards paid. His 
account continued at the bank until the 1st of March, and his 
pass-book was sent to him. It then contained checks which 


TESTIMONY OF COL. FRANCIS. 


801 


had been received and paid. It was a practice at the bank 
for customers to sign the signature-book when they received 
a check-book. Witness produced two of the signatures of 
the prisoner, Austin Bidwell, in the name of F. A. Warren 
which the prisoner wrote in the bank-book. The credit slips 
produced and which had been received between May and 
August, 1872, were all in Warren’s handwriting. Being cross- 
examined, the witness said he made no inquiries at the Golden 
Cross Hotel which the prisoner had given as his address. He 



BANK OF ENGLAND BULLION VAULTS. 


signed two or three times in all. To the best of his belief he 
did not remember the prisoner speaking to him at any time 
about closing his account . His balance was low about the end 
of May , 1872. [See page 140.] Including the genuine bill 
for <£4,000 presented for discount and discounted, his balance 
on the 17th of January was about £8,500, after crediting him 
with the discount he had drawn. 

Col. Peregrine Madgwick Francis, examined by Mr. Po¬ 
land, said : 

I am the agent at the Western Branch of the Bank of 
England in Burlington Gardens. I entered upon my duties 
on the 3d of June, 1872, and was absent on leave from the 






302 


PORTUGUESE BONDS DISPOSED OF. 


27th of July to the 27th of August. Up to that time I had 
not seen the customer F. A. Warren, but 1 saw him on the 3d 
of September. I now recognize him as the prisoner Austin 
Bidwell. 

On that day he brought some Portuguese bonds and asked 
me to take charge of them. They were of the nominal value 
of <£8,000. Mr. Fenwick introduced him to me as Mr. War¬ 
ren, and he sat down in my room. 

I had some conversation with him. He said, in general, 
that he had come over to England to introduce sundry Amer¬ 
ican inventions, first and foremost of which were the sleeping- 
cars, and some others. I asked him some particulars about 
an improved brake, but he excused himself from replying, on 
the ground that it was a secret. He said he hoped the sleep¬ 
ing-cars would be in use by the time of the opening of the 
Yienna exhibition, and that he expected soon to introduce a 
company into England for their manufacture. I understood 
him to say he,was then working with a view to their introduc¬ 
tion on a foreign line. 

He said he was going to work at Birmingham. That 
was the substance of the conversation. I knew he was an 
American, and that the cars were American sleeping-cars. I 
filled him up a form for the Portuguese* bonds, amounting to 
£8,000, and he signed it in my presence. It was a voucher 
to receive and hold them on his own account. Next day I 
saw him again, when he brought £4,000, nominal value, more 
of the same securities, and said he wished to have the whole 
of them sold, and he fixed a limit, forty-one and three-fourths 
per cent., as the price. I undertook to sell them for him. I 
wrote out the usual request, and he signed it in my presence. 

On the 9th of September I sa^ him again, and he asked 
me for an advance of £2,000 on the bonds. I made him that 
advance until the time of the sale, and he signed a paper in 
ordinary form in my presence, relating to the transaction. 
The bonds were sold for £5,025, which sum then went to his 
credit, on the 14th of September. I saw him again on the 


BILLS DISCOUNTED. 


303 


26th of November, when he brought in two bills on Messrs. 
Suse & Sibeth, for £500 each, and asked me if I could dis¬ 
count them for him. They were dated the 31st of October, 
1872, and were three-months fyills. They were drawn by 
Isidoro Hess, of Ferrara, and payable at Messrs. Martins in 
London. He asked if I would discount them for him, and I 
replied that I must inquire about them first. I took them to 
the city and got permission to discount them for him. I saw 
him afterwards, and they were discounted on the 29th of 
November. He said he might ask us to discount a few more 
of the same character. The amount of the two bills dis¬ 
counted were placed to his credit, less the discount. I saw 
him again on the 23d of December, and he then told me he 
was going to Birmingham and would send us a few bills of 
the same stamp as those we had taken. He said he was going 
there about his workshops. Nothing further passed on that 
occasion, and he left. On the 30th of December I received 
this letter: 

Birmingham, December 28, 1872. 
Col. P. M. Francis, Bank of England (W. B.), London: 

Sir, — Enclosed I hand you bills for discount, as per accom¬ 
panying memorandum. Will you please place the proceeds of the 
same to credit of my account, and oblige 

Yours faithfully, F. A. Warren. 

I have been delaying sending these bills for discount in expecta¬ 
tion of a lower bank rate. However, as I have to-day given checks 
overdrawing my account, you will oblige me by placing them to 
my credit. I am yours, etc., F. A. W. 

The letter contained a memorandum and ten bills for 
£4,307. They were all genuine bills, and were all paid at 
maturity. I discounted them, and the amount, less the dis¬ 
count, was placed to the credit of Warren’s account. After 
that I did not see him again until about the 6th of January. 
At the end of December the balance standing to his credit 
was £3,604 13s. and 3c?. I saw him again in my own room 
on the 17th of January, when he spoke to me about discount- 


304 “ A NEW hand at the bellows.” 

ing a bill for <£4,500. He brought it out with rather a flour¬ 
ish and put it down on my table in an off-hand way, saying, 
“ I suppose that will be good enough paper for you.” 

It was a bill on Messrs. Rothschild for £4,500. I looked 
at it and discounted it for him. Up to that time, including 
that bill, I had discounted genuine bills for him t<? the amount 
of £9,807 8s. and 6c?. 

In the list of bills I discounted in December, there was an 
acceptance by Mr. Gilman for £300. The next time I saw 
him I said we had made inquiries about the bill, and that we 
did not want to have a larger amount from that acceptor. 
The bill, however, was a very good one, and we had no 
objection to Mr. Gilman. Austin Bidwell, on the 17th of 
January, looked exceedingly ill, and said he had been thrown 
from his horse. 

That was the last time I saw him until he was in custody 
at the Mansion House. On the 22d of January I received 
the registered letter produced from Warren, and three bills 
enclosed with a memorandum. The amount was for £4,250, 
and the bills were endorsed by him. The letter was as 
follows: 

Birmingham, January 21, 1873. 

Dear Sir, — I hand you herewith, as per enclosed memorandum, 
bills for discount, the proceeds of which please place to my credit. 

I remain, dear sir, Yours very truly, 

F. A. Warren. 

To Col. P. M. Francis, 

Manager Western Branch of the Bank of England. 

[Above and following letters were written by me, Warren 
not being in England. — G. B.] 

Mr. Giffard, interposing, said: We propose to read the 
first bill now, as that is a subject of indictment. Mr. Avery, 
the clerk of arraigns, said the bill was one for £1,000, pur¬ 
porting to be drawn by H. C. Streeter, and accepted, payable 
three months after date, by the London and Westminster 
Bank. The acceptance was in the names of Mr. H. F. Bill- 


AN OBJECTION. 


;05 


inghurst, the sub-country manager, and Mr. W. H. Nichols, 
signing on behalf of the secretary. Col. Francis, resuming, 
said: Those three acceptances are similar to some of the 
general acceptances given on the 30th of December. They 
were all discounted, and the account credited with the amount. 
They became due on the 31st of March, the 3d of April, and 
the 13th of April. They were presented in due course, and 
returned as forged. 

On the 25th of January I received the registered letter and 
memorandum produced from Birmingham, with the eight bills 
mentioned in the memorandum. The letter was as follows: 

Birmingham, January 24, 1873. 

Col. P. M. Francis, Manager Western Branch Bank of England: 

Dear Sir, — Enclosed I hand you bills for discount, as per 
enclosed memorandum, and which please have placed to my credit 
on receipt. The reduction in Bank rate came quite opportunely 
for my wants I am, dear sir, 

Yours very truly, F. A. VJarren. 

I do not think the signature to the letter is Warren’s. It 
is an imitation of it, but I took it at the time to be in his 
handwriting. I also took the endorsements to the bills to be 
in his handwriting. There were eight bills, and they were 
discounted by me and placed to Warren’s credit. 

Mr. McIntyre, interposing, objected to the admissibility of 
this evidence, on the ground that it was not proved to be in 
Warren’s handwriting. Mr. Justice Archibald overruled the 
objection, saying it would be a matter on which to address 
the jury when the proper time arrived. Mr. McIntyre sub¬ 
mitted there was no evidence of authority. The judge said 
he would take a note of the objection. Witness, resuming, 
said: The amount of the bills in question was £ 9,350, and 
that sum was placed to the credit of the account, on the 25th. 
Of the eight bills, two purported to be accepted by Messrs. 
N. M. de Rothschild & Sons, two by Mr. B. W. Blydenstein, 
one by the Anglo-Austrian Bank, one by Suse & Sibeth, one 
by the London and Westminster Bank, and one by the Inter- 
20 


306 


WARREN*8 SIGNATURE “ VERY BAD. 


national Bank of Hamburg and London; and they were all 
similar in appearance to bills of the same parties which the 
bank had discounted previously. On the 4th of February I 
received the following letter from Warren : 

Birmingham, February 3, 1873. 

Dear Sir, — I did not duly acknowledge your esteemed favor 
of the 24th of January, as 1 daily expected to come to the city, but 
do not find myself yet able for the journey, still suffering greatly 
from my fall, or rather its effects; but I hope to see you before long. 

Please direct as last, as I am staying with a friend a short dis¬ 
tance out of town. Letters will reach me directed to this office. 

1 enclose you bills as per memorandum, of which please place 
the value to my credit, on receipt. I remain, dear sir, 

Yours faithfully, F. A. Warren. 

Enclosed were eleven bills, amounting in all to <£11,072 
18s. and 6d. They were discounted, the discount deducted, 
and the balance placed to the credit of Warren’s account. 
The signature of F. A. Warren to the letter was very bad 
indeed, and is an imitation of his signature, not so like his 
own as many of the others. There is an indecision about the 
endorsements. The acceptors of the bills were Messrs. Roths¬ 
child, the Bank of Belgium and Holland, the Anglo-Austrian 
Bank, the International Bank of Hamburg and London, Mr. 
B. W. Blydenstein, and Messrs. Baring Bros. One bill for 
£2,500 in the batch appears to have been altered from £25 
to £2,500. The acceptance is genuine, but it was refused 
payment, in respect of the excess. All the others were 
returned as forgeries. I acknowledged the receipt of the 
bills by a letter addressed to F. A. Warren, P. O. Birming¬ 
ham. On the 10th of February I received the registered 
letter produced, dated the 8th of February, with a memoran¬ 
dum including two bills amounting, together, to £4,642 19s. 
and 4 d. The letter was as follows : 

Birmingham, February 8, 1878. 

Dear Sir, —Your favor of the 4th, acknowledging receipt of 
bills mailed the 3d inst., came duly to hand. Enclosed I hand you 


A “BATCH” OF BILLS. 307 

bills and memorandum, proceeds of which place to my credit on 
receipt, and accept assurances, etc. I am, dear sir, 

Yours faithfully, F. A. Warren. 

The two bills which purported to be accepted by Messrs. 
Rothschild and the International Bank of Hamburg were dis¬ 
counted, and his account credited with the amount. They 
were afterwards returned as forged. On the 13th of Febru¬ 
ary I received another registered letter, dated the 12th, from 
Birmingham, with a memorandum and a batch of bills four¬ 
teen in number, amounting to X 14,696 16s. and 2d. Those 
were discounted and the amount placed to the credit of his 
account. The letter was as follows : 

Birmingham, February 12, 1873. 

Dear Sir, — Enclosed I hand you bills for discount as per 
memorandum herewith. Please have proceeds placed to credit of my 
account on receipt. I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 

F. A. Warren. 

To Col. P. M. Francis, Manager, etc. 

There is a P. S. as follows: 

My Dear Sir, — The mail was so near closing when I wrote my 
last, that I did not have the time to make a proper acknowledg¬ 
ment of your good wishes in my behalf, as expressed in the P. S- 
of yours of the 14th inst., and now I take occasion to return you 
my sincere thanks, and to inform you that I am gradually, but 
slowly, recovering, and am succeeding thus far in matters of busi¬ 
ness to my wish. I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 

F. A. W. 

The acceptors were Messrs. Rothschild, the Anglo-Austrian 
Bank, the International Bank of Hamburg, Messrs. Suse & 
Sibeth, the Bank of Belgium and Holland, Messrs. Brown, 
Shipley & Co., Messrs. Baring Brothers, the London and 
Westminster Bank, and the Agra Bank. Those bills were 
presented in due course and returned as forgeries. On the 
21st of February I received a registered letter, dated the 20th, 
from Birmingham, inclosing sixteen bills, amounting in all to 
£ 14,686 15s. and 4 d. The acceptors were Messrs. Mitchell, 


308 WARREN HOPES TO RESUME “ACTIVE LIFE” 

Yeames & Co., the Russian Bank of Foreign Trade, the Union 
Bank, Mr. Blydenstein, Messrs. Rothschild, the Anglo- 
Austrian Bank, the London and Westminster Bank, and 
Messrs. Baring Brothers. 

The letter was as follows : 

Birmingham, February 20, 1873. 
Dear Sir, — Enclosed I hand you hills with memorandum for 
discount, proceeds of which please place to the credit of my account, 
on receipt. 

I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 

F. A. Warren. 

To Col. P. M. Francis, Manager : 

P. S. My Dear Sir, — I am happy to inform you that my 
doctor reports me as doing finely, with the prospect, should no 
drawback occur, of resuming my active life again in a few days. 
Under these circumstances, I hope soon to have the pleasure of 
seeing you, and, in the meantime, I remain, dear sir, 

Yours faithfully, 

F. A. Warren. 

They were discounted and the amount credited with them. 
They were subsequently presented and returned as forgeries. 
On the 25th of February I received a registered letter couched 
in similar.terms, dated Birmingham, February 24th, inclosing 
bills, sixteen in number, amounting to <£19,253 10s. and 3d., 
which were presented in due course and returned as forgeries. 
I had discounted them and placed the amount to his credit. 

Among the alleged acceptors were the London and West¬ 
minster Bank, Messrs. Baring Brothers, the Bank of Belgium 
and Holland, Mr. Blydenstein, the International Bank of 
Hamburg, Messrs. Suse & Sibeth, Messrs. Schroeder & Co., 
and the Union Bank. 

I also produce a registered letter I received on the 27th 
of February from Birmingham, containing a memorandum 
and I think twenty-four bills, amounting in all to £26,265. 
The letter is as follows: 


DATE OF “SIGHTING” OMITTED. 


309 


Birmingham, February 27, 1873. 

Col. P. M. Francis, Manager : 

Dear Sir, — Enclosed I hand you Memorandum with bills for dis¬ 
count, proceeds of which please place to the credit of my account 
on receipt. I have yours of 25th, acknowledging receipt of bills 
sent on 24th. I remain, dear sir, yours faithfully, 

F. A. Warren. 

P. S. My Dear Sir: — I take this opportunity of thanking you 
for the trouble you have taken on my behalf in making special 
application to the Bank Committee about the Anglo-Austrian and 
Russian Bank bills. 

I have some of each to the amount of about £6,000, and shall 
either get two endorsements on them, or return them to my 
friends. Accept, dear sir, the assurance of my esteem, while I 
remain yours faithfully, F. A. Warren. 

Of those bills I discounted all but two, and the account 
was credited with £24,265. Those two bills were for £1,000 
each, and payable three months after sight. The date of the 
sighting was omitted. They were sent to the office of Mr. B. 
W. Blydenstein, the alleged acceptor, on the 28th, to be 
sighted, upon which they were returned as forgeries. 

The remaining portion of that batch of bills was presented 
in due course and returned as forgeries. [The witness then 
produced various paid checks of Warren’s, including several 
for considerable sums drawn in favor of C. J. Horton.] 

The gross amount paid in from the opening of the account 
to the end of December was £17,504 19s. and 4 d. That in¬ 
cluded money paid in and bills which I had discounted. Ex¬ 
cluding bills which I had discounted amounting to £5,300 in 
round numbers, the sum paid in to his credit amounting to 
£12,200 odd was paid in cash or in securities representing 
cash. Up to January 21st all the bills which were discounted 
were genuine. The bill for £4,500, discounted on the 18th 
of January, was also genuine and paid. 

Cross-examined by Mr. McIntyre, Q. C.: I have been a 
bank manager for thirteen years. I was first the sub-agent 
of the Bank of England at Leeds, then agent at Hull, and 


310 GENUINE UP TO JANUARY 2\ST. 

subsequently agent at the Western Branch. Before that I was 
an officer in the army. I succeeded Mr. Pym at the Western 
Branch. We have there the address of every customer. My 
attention was first called to the account of Mr. Warren at the 
close of August on my return from leave. I am not aware 
that I went through his account at that time, it being an ordi¬ 
nary drawing account. The only address of Warren was the 
Golden Cross Hotel, and his only description that of a com¬ 
mission agent. The account began with the payment in of 
<£1,200, and I found when I returned at the end of August 
that the greater part of it had been drawn out , leaving a bal¬ 
ance of about £89. [That corroborates my account on page 
188 et seq.~\ On the 26th and 27th of August Warren paid in 
£200 altogether. On the 8d of December the balance was 
£219. When he brought the £8,000 in Portuguese bonds I 
did not inquire his address, nor did I know his address in Bir¬ 
mingham. The only address I had there of him was the 
post-office. I made inquiries at the head office of the Bank 
of England about his bills. 

Plis account then showed a balance of £1,658 in his favor. 
The bills of Suse & Sibeth were payable in the city. I cer¬ 
tainly did not make inquiries as to those bills; it would not 
have been usual. Upon information obtained I discounted 
the bills. All the bills I received from Warren until the 21st 
of January last were genuine and paid at maturity. Up to 
that period I wrote him at Birmingham and only to the post- 
office there. The Bank of England has a branch there. The 
letter of the 28th of December was the first I received from 
Warren. Between the 28th of December and the 21st of 
January I had no letters from him; looking now at the bodies 
of the letters of those dates they seem somewhat different. 
That did not strike me at the time. There was a general 
similarity in all the letters after the 21st of January. I be¬ 
lieved up to that time that all the letters were in his hand¬ 
writing. I will not say now that the body of the letter of the 
21st of January is in the handwriting of Warren. It may be. 


WARREN'S CHIROGRAPHY ALL RIGHT. 


311 


I think the signature is Warren’s. I afterwards learned that 
Warren was not in this country when those letters were 
written. That may possibly have induced me to change my 
opinion, but not in the first instance. Very likely that 
induced me to make inquiries on the subject. There were 
three bills inclosed in the letter of the 21st of January. Look¬ 
ing at the indorsement of these three bills now I believe them 
to be in Warren’s handwriting. They have all the little 
peculiarities of his signature and appear to be written freely. 
[I wrote them myself. — (1. B.] One I have had pointed out 
to me, but not by Mr. Chabot, the expert. I never saw War¬ 
ren at the branch bank after this 17th January, and then he 
looked very ill. Being asked by Mr. McIntyre in conclusion 
if he had discounted bills for a man who had only given as an 
address, the post-office at Birmingham, the witness replied 
that was so, but said he communicated with headquarters on 
the subject of the bills tendered for discount. He went on 
to say he had produced in court that day all the letters pur¬ 
porting to come from Warren. Being examined by Mr. Gif- 
fard, Q. C., the witness said on the 17th of January Warren 
told him that he hoped to have his workshops in full opera¬ 
tion by the first of February. That was the occasion on 
which he brought the bill of Messrs. Rothschild. He had no 
doubt as to the genuineness of the bills at that time. 

Mr. Henry Farncombe Billinghurst was next called. He 
said he is the sub-country manager of the London and Westmin- 
ster Bank. Being shown the bill purporting to be drawn by 
H. C. Streeter, of Valparaiso, upon and accepted by the bank, 
he said it was a forgery, so far as acceptance and witness’s 
signature were concerned, the signature being a bad imitation 
of his. The stamp he said, was an imitation of that used by 
the London and Westminster Bank. Shown a batch of bills 
'bearing similar acceptances and stamps, he said they were all 
forgeries, none of the supposed drawers having an account 
with that bank. 

Mr. Alfred Charles de Rothschild was called and examined 


312 


NINE BANKERS TESTIFY. 


by Mr. Crawford. He said he was a member of the firm of 
N. M. de Rothschild & Sons. Being shown eight bills pur¬ 
porting to be those of his firm, he said the acceptance was not 
in the handwriting of any member of it. The stamp across 
the bill, he said, was an imitation of the stamp they used for 
acceptances, and was not genuine. Shown a genuine bill of 
their firm for <£4,500, he said it was in the handwriting of 
Sir Anthony de Rothschild. 

Being cross-examined by Mr. McIntyre, witness said that 
the bill was drawn by their house in London on their Paris 
house. He added that the acceptance of the forged bill was 
exactly that which the firm used. 

By Mr. Giffard: The signature to the forged bills pro¬ 
duced purported to be that of Sir Anthony de Rothschild, but 
in every case it was a forgery. There was a certain amount 
of imitation of the signatures, and some might think it good, 
but he did not. 

Mr. John Rudolph Lorent, manager of the Bank of Bel¬ 
gium and Holland — Mr. Herman Gwinner, manager of the 
International Bank of Hamburg and London — Mr. Charles 
John Sibeth, of the firm of Messrs. Suse & Sibeth, 35 Lime 
Street — Mr. Francis Hamilton, of the firm of Messrs. Brown, 
Shipley & Co. — Mr. Chas. Lloyd Norman, of the firm of 
Messrs. Baring Brothers—Mr. Mayern, clerk in the Russian 
Bank of Foreign Trade — Mr. J. T. Byng, assistant manager 
of the Union Bank — Mr. W. H. Trumpler, of the firm of B. 
W. Blydenstein & Co. — and Mr. W. H. Nichols, of the London 
and Westminster Bank — were also called, and gave similar 
evidence as to bills purporting to bear their acceptances. This 
concluded that class of evidence, and the Court adjourned at 
four o’clock for the day. Two of the jury were unwell, but 
the charge being one of felony, the members were not allowed 
to separate during the progress of the trial, and were taken, 
as on the previous evening, to the Terminus Hotel, Cannon 
Street, escorted by an officer of the Court, to spend the night. 


Chapter XXX. 


THE TRIAL CONTINUED — THIRD DAY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST ' 20TH — GERMAN 
BARONS AND BANKERS ON THE STAND — OPERATIONS IN FRANKFORT-ON- 
THE-MAIN — BANK OF ENGLAND CLERKS NARRATE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND 
DISBURSEMENTS—THE MANAGER OF THE CONTINENTAL BANK IN THE WITNESS- 
BOX — BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES EXCHANGED FOR GOLD, AND VICE VERSA. 



HE trial was continued, at 10 o’clock. 


JL M. August Fleischmann, examined by Mr. Watkin Wil¬ 
liams, Q. C., was called. Speaking through an interpreter, 
Mr. T. Gregory Smith, of the Bank of England, witness said 
he was a clerk to Messrs. Koch, Lautoin & Co., of Frankfort, 
bankers. He recognized the prisoner, Austin Bidwell. He 
saw him on the first of February last in their office at Frank¬ 
fort. The prisoner transacted some business with witness. 
He bought some bonds of them, giving no name. Witness 
produced a note of that purchase, prepared by one of the 
partners, and which was handed to the prisoner at the time. 
It was in English, and referred to the purchase of $36,856 in 
United States bonds, for which he paid in Frankfort bank 
notes. 

By Mr. McIntyre, in cross-examination: The prisoner 
was a perfect stranger to him. Witness was going in and out 
of the room during the transaction. He had not seen him 
since until the trial. 

Baron Hugo von Bethmann, a partner in the firm of Beth- 
mann, Freres & Co., of Frankfort, said he knew the prisoner, 
Austin Bidwell. He first saw him on the 13th of January. 
He called with some United States bonds and asked them to 
sell them for him. They agreed to do so. He was known 
there before as a customer by that name. The bonds 


( 313 ) 



314 


AMERICAN BONDS. 


amounted to $10,000, and witness gave the numbers of them 
in detail. They sold them for him. The value of them in 
English would be little more than £2,000, and a bill of £500 
was given to the prisoner in part payment for them. 

Mr. Giffard, Q. C., addressing the Court, said that was the 
bill referred to by the witness, Mr. Duncan, on the previous 
evening, as having been received at the post-office, New York, 
in the envelope he produced. 

The witness, Baron Bethmann, went on to say that the 
rest was paid in paper money of the Frankfort Bank. On the 
first of February the prisoner called again and asked witness 
to sell $10,000 more for him, adding that their price had 
become higher than it was a short time before, and he thought 
that a good time for selling them. It was a fact that the 
price had become higher. They sold the second lot of bonds 
for him. There were nine bonds of $1,000 each, and two 
of $500, all new. The value of them in all was about £2,000. 

By Mr. McIntyre, Q. C., in cross-examination : American 
bonds were extensively sold in Frankfort, and his firm were 
selling them largely at that time. The cashier of witness’s 
firm, and not witness himself, paid the prisoner for the bonds. 

By Mr. Giffard, Q. C.: He had no doubt whatever that 
the bill in question was the one given to the prisoner, Austin 
Bidwell. 

Mr. Meyer Schwartzchild, a banker and money dealer at 
Frankfort, examined by Mr. Poland, said he believed he rec¬ 
ognized the two prisoners, George and Austin Bidwell, the 
former by the name of H. E. Gilbert. He saw George Bid- 
well at Frankfort first on the 13th or 14th of October last in 
reference to some American bonds which he had ordered wit¬ 
ness to sell. The prisoner, Austin Bidwell, gave him an order 
to buy some bonds of Mrs. W. Hall. This was in January. 
Witness bought some American six per cent, bonds for Austin 
Bidwell in two or three lots, the value of them being about 
$5,000 all together. There were two or three transactions. 
The prisoner paid for them in Dutch and Frankfort notes. 


FOUR CLERKS . 315 

At that time he did not know the prisoner, Austin Bidwell, by 
any name. He was a stranger to him. 

M. Joseph Antoine Buchhein said he was a clerk in the 
Frankfort bank up to the first of July last. He knew the 
prisoner Austin Bidwell, and had seen him at the bank. That 
was on the first of February last. The prisoner then wished 
to buy two bills on London. Witness showed him one and 
drew another for him on London. He asked to have one of 
the bills endorsed to Paine & Co. of London, and witness so 
endorsed it. The amount of it was <£19 4s. which the pris¬ 
oner paid him. Being cross-examined, witness said the pris¬ 
oner Austin Bidwell was a stranger to him previous to that 
occasion. 

Mr. Isadore Wolff, a clerk to Messrs. Morepurgo & Weis- 
weiler of Frankfort was called, and recognized Austin Bidwell 
as a person who had been seen in their office. 

[All the foregoing evidence in relation to Austin Bidwell’s 
purchases and sales of bonds on the Continent in January 
and February, must be cases of mistaken identity; although 
I do not, at this writing, know sufficient regarding his move¬ 
ments, after I parted with him at Calais on January 18th, to 
’say positively — but it is my belief that before the 1st of Feb¬ 
ruary he was on his way to Cuba.— G. B.] 

Mr. Frederick Robert Rumsey, a clerk in the Western 
Branch of the Bank of England, proved from his counter¬ 
book that on the 29th of November last, he paid over the 
counter a check of F. A. Warren for £800 in seven £100 
notes, and two for £50 each. That was in one check. 

Mr. J. A. C. Good, also a clerk in the Western Branch of 
the Bank of England, proved.that on the 2d of December he 
paid in exchange for a check of Warren for £1,250, twelve 
bank-notes for £100 each, and £50 in gold. 

Mr. John Thomas Stanton, manager of the Continental 
Bank, 79 Lombard Street, which is also known as Messrs. 
Hartland & Co., said he knew the prisoners Noyes and Austin 
Bidwell — the latter as C. J. Horton. On the 2d of Decern- 


816 


BUSINESS AT THE CONTINENTAL. 


ber last he first saw Austin Bidwell. He then called at the 
bank and opened an account with them. He said that he 
had previously had an account with Messrs. Bowles Bros., 
and that he had been fortunate enough to have drawn from 
them £7,500 just before their suspension. Having asked 
witness what interest would be allowed, it was arranged that 
he should open a current account with the Continental Bank. 
He opened that account in the name of Charles Johnson 
Horton, and signed the signature-book of the bank in that 
name, giving as his address the Charing Cross Hotel. Wit¬ 
ness understood that he was an American gentleman. The 
account was opened by his paying in <£1,800 in Bank of Eng¬ 
land notes, and he filled up a credit slip for that amount. 
Witness produced the notes, with the exception of <£100 
which was changed for the prisoner. [These were the notes 
referred to by the last two witnesses.] That was the first 
time witness had seen him. Next day the prisoner called 
again and paid in .£285 10s., in two checks — one of Messrs. 
Baring for £50, and the other for £185 10s. in the name of 
F. A. Warren, on the Bank of England. Those were credited 
to his account. On the 5th of December he paid in a check 
for £95 2s., with which his account was credited. On the 
same day a check was drawn out by him, signed “ C. J. Hor¬ 
ton.” [Check was for the amount of £1,000.] It was paid 
in bank-notes. On the 27th of December witness cashed a 
check for him for £100 by £90 in notes and £10 in gold. 
On the 30th of December a check of F. A. Warren on the 
Bank of England for £1,550 was paid in and credited to his 
account. On the 31st of December there was standing to the 
credit of Horton’s account £1,645 11s. 11 d. On the same 
day he paid to Horton the sum of £85 in bank-notes in pay¬ 
ment of a check of his. On the 9th of January £3,000 was 
paid into the account in bank-notes, the credit-slip accom¬ 
panying the payment being initialed “ C. J. H.” On the 11th 
of January £500 was paid into the same account by Horton, 
and the account was credited with the amount. On the same 


CHECKS AND CHECKS. 


817 


day X 3,933 2 s. \0d. was drawn out by, witness presumed, a 
check of Horton’s, for which they gave him French notes for 
28,000 francs, and two drafts on Paris — one for 50,000 francs: 
and the other for 22,000 francs — both drawn on Messrs. 
Meyer Fils. On the 16th of January XI,250 was cashed over 
the counter in answer to a check of Horton’s. On the 11th a 
new check-book was supplied to Horton, containing forty-eight 
checks. On the 16th of January X75 was drawn out by a 
check of his. On the 18th of January X3,304 16s. 9 d. was 
paid into the account in two checks on the Western Branch 
of the Bank of England — one for XI,600, and the other for 
X 1,704 16s. 9 d. It was not stated upon whom the checks 
were drawn. On the 21st of January a check of Horton’s for 
X 2,000 was cashed, in ten bank-notes of XI00 each, and two 
of X500 each. That was an open check paid over the counter. 
On the same day a check of Horton’s for X807 15s. in favor 
of Messrs. Jay Cooke, M’Cullocli & Co. was paid. On the 22d 
of January a sum of X3,716 13s. 7 d., in two checks—one for 
X2,300, and the other for XI,416 13s. 7 d. — on the Western 
Branch of the Bank of England, was paid in. On the same 
day a check of Horton’s for X400 was cashed over the counter 
by two notes of X50 and three of X100. On the 24tli of 
January X 2,200 on a check of Horton’s was paid, and later 
in the day a check of his for X45. The larger sum was paid 
by a check of his on the Union Bank of London, and the 
smaller check in bank-notes—one of X5, and two of X20. 

On the 25th of January, X3,400 was paid in by a check of 
Warren’s on the Western Branch of the Bank of England 
for that amount. Witness knew the prisoner Noyes. He 
was introduced to him at their bank by Austin Bidwell, as his 
clerk. That was about the 18th of January. He said that 
Noyes was his confidential clerk and that they were to treat 
him exactly as they treated himself. Witness asked whether 
Noyes was to be allowed to sign checks. The answer was 
“ By no means,” or to that effect. Witness understood that 
Horton was then going to Birmingham. He did not think he 
saw Horton after that. 


818 


LIVELY BANKING. 


Witness afterwards did business with Noyes in the way of 
cashing checks and paying in money. On the 25th of Janu¬ 
ary or the day after, he received a letter from Noyes, saying 
he was to hand the bearer the German money bought for him 
by C. J. Horton that day. Witness believed that Horton had 
bought some German money that day which they had not 
previously had in the bank. It amounted to 2,000 thalers 
odd, and was given to the bearer, who signed a receipt for it 
in the name of E. Noyes. Witness, however, sent a clerk from 
the bank with the messenger to room No. 6, Terminus Hotel, 
London Bridge, Horton’s address. On the 25th of January, a 
check of Horton’s for £1,000 was paid in bank-notes, five of 
£100, and the rest in foreign money, florins and thalers, 
amounting to £502 odd. On the 27th of January, a check of 
Horton’s for £451 15s. was paid in favor of Jay Cpoke & Co. 
Next day a check of Horton’s for £8,000 was presented and 
paid ovjr the counter in seventeen £100 notes, five £50 notes, 
and £1,049 17s. 9c?. in Dutch coin. On the 3d of February, 
£1,000 was paid in to Horton’s account, the credit-slip for 
for which was signed “ E. Noyes,” in the prisoner’s hand¬ 
writing. That was by a check on the Western Branch of the 
Bank of England. On February 4th, £3,89114s. was paid in 
to the credit of Horton’s account by E. Noyes. It consisted 
of a single check on the Western Branch of the Bank of Eng¬ 
land. On the same day, a check of Horton’s for £1,320 was 
paid over the counter in six £100 notes, one of £50, one of 
£10, one of £5, and £654 Is. 9c?. in Dutch florins. On Feb¬ 
ruary 7th, a check of £3,500 of Horton’s was paid over the 
counter in notes, six of £500 each, and five of £100 each. On 
February 10th, a check of Horton’s for £200 was paid over 
the counter in notes. On February 13th, £6,250 was paid 
in to the credit of Horton’s account in two checks, one for 
£4,250, and the other for £2,000, on the Western Branch of 
the Bank of England, in the name of “ F. A. Warren” the 
credit-slip being signed “ E. Noyes.” On the same day a 
check of Horton’s for £65 was paid in notes. That sum wit- 


THE “BOOM” CONTINUED. 


319 


ness declined to send by a messenger whom Noyes had 
despatched for it with a letter addressed from the Terminus 
Hotel, London Bridge. Noyes afterwards called for the 
money himself, and requested that, in the future, witness 
would trust the messengers he sent. On February 14th, wit¬ 
ness received a letter from Noyes, containing a check of Hor¬ 
ton’s for <£50, which witness cashed at his request, and sent 
by the bearer to room 6, Terminus Hotel, London Bridge. 
On February 15th, a check for <£332 10s. was paid into the 
credit of Horton’s account. On the same day, he paid a check 
of Horton’s for £4,000 in fourteen bank-notes, two of £1,000, 
two of £500, and ten of £100. On February 17th, £1,200 
was paid in to the credit of Horton’s account, in a check of 
“ F. A. Warren ” on the Bank of England. On the same day, 
he cashed a check of Horton’s for £2,800 in bank-notes, one 
for £1,000, two for £500, one for £200, five for £100, and 
two for £50. On the 20th, he paid a check of Horton’s for 
£1,000 in one note, and that was enclosed in a letter, at the 
request of Noyes, addressed to Horton at the Cannon Street 
Hotel, and sent by a messenger. On February 21st, a check 
of Warren’s for £4,500 was paid in to Horton’s credit, the 
slip for which was in Noyes’ handwriting. On February 
25th, £4,500 was paid partly in bank-notes on a check of 
Horton’s made payable to himself, viz.: four notes of 
£1,000 each, one of £100, being, said Mr. Poland, one of a 
batch contained in the envelope produced yesterday by the 
witness, Mr. Duncan. On February 26th, £2,277 10s. was 
paid in to the credit of Horton’s account, credit-slip for which 
was signed by Noyes — in two checks, one being a check of 
Warren’s for £2,100, and the other a check of Jay Cooke, 
M’Culloch & Co.’s for £177 10s. On the 27th of February 
a check of Horton’s for £100 payable to “ self or order ” was 
sent, as directed in a letter from Noyes, to C. J. Horton, 
Room 8, Cannon Street Hotel. Next day a check of War¬ 
ren’s for £6,000 was paid in by Noyes and was payable to 
Thomas Carter or order. On that occasion Noyes ordered a 


320 MR - MAY blocks the game. 

very large sum of foreign money to be got ready for him by 
the next day, principally in French notes and the rest in 
thaler notes. Witness believed the amount of foreign money 
he ordered was larger than £ 2,000. On the same occasion, 
Noyes received cash for a check of Horton’s dated the 28th of 
February, for £2,000 in two bank notes of £1,000 each. On 
March 1st, Noyes called again, and produced a credit-slip 
signed by himself for £2,500, handing in at the same time a 
check of Warren’s for £2,500 on the Bank of England pay¬ 
able to C. J. Horton. By that time witness had got a por¬ 
tion of foreign money for him, but it was arranged that he 
should call for it again later in the day. He called again a 
little before one and then produced for payment a check of 
Horton’s payable to self or order for £5,000. He had to wait 
a short time while the check was being collected. Mr. May, 
a gentleman connected with the Bank of England, came into 
the bank while Noyes was waiting. Upon that witness 
pointed him out to Mr. May, who had brought in a policeman 
with him, into whose custody Noyes was then given. Wit¬ 
ness had not at that time paid the £5,000 check presented by 
Noyes. 

Th^e witness underwent cross-examination by Mr. McIn¬ 
tyre, Q. C., and Mr. Ribton, but without his evidence in chief 
in any material respect being impaired. He said, however, 
on every occasion for a considerable time, he dealt with 
Noyes, believing him to be Horton’s clerk, but after Horton 
said he (Noyes) was to be treated with as much respect as 
himself, witness thought Noyes was to be treated as somewhat 
of a principal. Horton, however, gave witness emphatically to 
understand that Noyes was not to sign checks. 

Mr. Edward Brent, a clerk in the issue department of the 
Bank of England, said he knew the prisoner Noyes as a 
person who used to come from time to time to the bank to 
exchange notes into gold. On every occasion he asked the 
prisoner whether the gold was for home use or for exporta¬ 
tion, and in most cases Noyes said it was for home use; in 


AN ESTIMATE. 


321 


the other cases, at a later period, he said it was for Paris. 
He gave as his address 28 Manchester Square, Durant’s 
Hotel. The total value of the notes he so exchanged was 
<£13,285. 

Mr. Frederick Pearse, a clerk in the issue department of 
the Bank of England, handed in an estimate of the quantity of 
notes which had been exchanged for gold at the bank. 


WEIGHING OFFICE, BANK OF ENGLAND. 

Mr. H. W. Hughes, a clerk in the weighing-room of the 
Bank of England, said he knew the prisoner, McDonald. On 
the 18th of January he saw that prisoner talking to the prin¬ 
cipal of the weighing department. The prisoner had brought 
X6,300 in gold which he wanted to exchange into notes. 

21 



































322 


“SOVEREIGNS. 


Witness found there were twenty-three sovereigns too many, 
and he told him so. He replied that he was not aware of it. 
The prisoner gave his name as George McDonald and told 
him how to spell it, saying he had great difficulty in getting 
people to spell it correctly. On February 23d, the prisoner 
called again to exchange £650 in gold for notes. Witness 
took him to the proper department to have exchange effected. 
On another occasion he brought £9,000 sovereigns of which 
fifteen were light and those very slightly so. [See. my remarks 
in Chapter XXXIII about exchanging those sovereigns. — G. 
B.] On February 25th, he came again bringing 1,000 sov¬ 
ereigns. On that occasion the prisoner was kept waiting 
somewhat longer than usual, and was very fidgety. He rang 
the bell once or twice and wanted to know the reason of the 
detention. He had been detained half or three-quarters of an 
hour. 

Mr. Joseph Reese Adams, principal of the issue depart¬ 
ment, said he recognized the prisoner, McDonald. He saw 
him on the 28th of January at the bank and asked him where 
he got the gold. The reply was either that it came from Lis¬ 
bon, or that he brought it from Lisbon. Being asked if he 
got the gold from Knowles & Foster, of Lisbon, to whom the 
bank shipped largely, he said he did not. The weight of 
sovereigns was twenty-one pounds troy-weight to the 1,000. 

At this point, the court having sat nearly seven hours, the 
case was adjourned until the following day at ten o’clock. 
The jury, as before, were conveyed in charge of the ushers of 
the court to the Terminus Hotel, Cannon Street. 



\ 


Chapter XXXI. 


THE TRIAL CONTINUED — FOURTH DAT, THURSDAY, AUGUST 21ST —DUTCH BANK¬ 
ERS WHO WOULD NOT BE “BEAT” TESTIFY — A HEBREW BROKER OF AM¬ 
STERDAM ON THE STAND — OPERATIONS IN GERMAN BILLS OF EXCHANGE — 
ACCIDENT ON THE NORTHERN RAILWAY OF FRANCE — INTERVIEW BETWEEN 
BARON ALFONSE DE ROTHSCHILD AND AUSTIN BIDWELL IN PARIS — A £4,500 
BILL — HEAVY TRANSACTIONS IN UNITED STATES BONDS ON THE CONTINENT. 



PON the opening of the Court at 10 a. m., it was 


V-J crowded as usual with ladies and gentlemen, including 
many members of the nobility. Greater interest than ever, if 
possible, was evinced, and amidst expressions of sympathy for 
the prisoners, it was a subject of general remark that such 
men could have made their way to the top round of the social 
and business ladder had their abilities been used in a proper 
manner. 

Mr. Simon Louis Pinto, examined by Mr. Watkin Wil¬ 
liams, Q. C., said he was a bill broker at Amsterdam. He 
now recognized the prisoner, George Bid well, by the name of 
H. E. Gilbert. He knew some gentlemen named Citroen & 
Zonen, gold workers at Amsterdam. Early in 1872 [It was 
in October. — G. B.] he learned that a stranger would proba¬ 
bly call upon him. Gilbert, otherwise George Bidwell, called 
on him with a commissioner from the hotel. He said he had 
brought some bills from Frankfort and wished to discount 
them. Witness declined to discount them. The prisoner 
then inquired whether he could obtain in Amsterdam any long 
bills on Germany. Witness said that it was very difficult to 
do that, such bills being very dear there. He told him there 
had been some bills on Hamburg the day before, and possibly 
he might qbtain them. The conversation was in broken Eng- 


( 823 ) 



324 


IN “MARKS BANCO.' 


lish and German — witness’s son assisting to interpret it. He 
asked witness to buy some of the bills on Hamburg for him, 
to the amount of about 20,000 guilders, and only to buy them 
from good houses — bankers. The prisoner said he was con¬ 
nected with railway works. Witness bought some bills for 
him, for which the prisoner paid him in Hutch bank-notes. 
He then gave witness a further order to buy other bills to the 
same or a larger amount in “ marks banco.” A day or two 
after he bought the bills the currency [meaning the rate of 
exchange] on Hamburg was changed, and Bidwell called and 
ordered him to sell the bills, saying he had made a mistake 
and wished to get rid of them. He added he would put up 
with the loss. Witness found the loss would be so great that 
he declined to re-sell them without further orders. The pris¬ 
sier said he had made such large profits in Hamburg by bill 
transactions that he could well afford to stand the loss, and 
that he intended to buy something else by which he could 
recoup himself. The loss was about £50 sterling. Witness 
sold them for him, upon which the prisoner gave him another 
order to buy with the moneys some fresh bills on London, and 
wrote the particulars upon paper. £3,000 was to be by a bill 
on London at three months, and £1,000 by a bill payable at 
sight. The prisoner left after giving the order. Witness 
bought five bills for him, one being a bill for £1,000 on Allard 
& Co., another by Philip Sohne on the Bank of Belgium and 
Holland for £1,000, two acceptances by Messrs. Suse & Sibeth 
for £500 each, and a bill of the Bank of Amsterdam on the 
Bank of Belgium and Holland, London, for £1,000. Witness 
delivered those bills to George Bidwell, and there was a bal¬ 
ance to pay, which Bidwell handed him in Dutch bank-notes. 
He saw Bidwell from four to six times. He afterwards, on 
the 2d of November, received a letter from him before he 
left Amsterdam. The letter, which was without date and 
signed H. E. Gilbert, was to the effect that he would not buy 
more before the next day, and meanwhile witness might sell 
two bills which he enclosed if he could do so with ease. Wit- 


MR. PINTO'S PURCHASES. 


325 


ness afterwards received other letters from him from London, 
one dated 20th of November, and containing 860 guilders in 
Dutch bank-notes. In consequence of instructions in that 
letter witness made a purchase for him, and the prisoner 
replied expressing himself satisfied with the transaction. He 
received a subsequent letter, dated the 30th of November, 
from the prisoner, George Bidwell, enclosing 2,105 guilders, 
and directing him to make a further purchase for him in a 
bill on Blydenstein & Co., which witness did. On the 8d of 
January witness received a letter from him dated the 3d, en¬ 
closing 1,490 florins, for which he was to send him a three 
months bill on the Amsterdam Bank. Witness made the 
purchase for him, sent it by post, and received an acknowl¬ 
edgment by return. On the 25th of January he received 
another letter from the prisoner enclosing 6,000 guilders, and 
directing him to make another purchase for him. With that 
witness bought for him a bill on Messrs. Barings for £500, 
drawn by A. Guerstin on the Anglo-Austrian Bank, at three 
months date, and endorsed by witness. Witness procured the 
bill, and enclosed it to him, with a small bill for £4 10$., 
drawn by Messrs. Samuel Montagu & Co., on London. Wit¬ 
ness afterward received from him 650 florins, with which he 
was directed to purchase another bill. Witness replied that 
he would not do business with so small an amount, upon which 
Gilbert wrote to him on the 13th of February, enclosing 410 
florins more. Witness replied to him in effect that with even 
the two sums together of 650 and 410 florins he could not 
purchase a three months’ bill. The witness afterwards sent 
him in a letter a bill for £87 10s., and had not since heard 
from him. 

Being cross-examined by Mr. Powell, the witness said that 
he first communicated with the authorities for the prosecution 
on the subject about three months ago, through Mr. Phillips, 
an advocate, who wrote down what he had to say about it. 
He came to England last Friday. Besides the name of 
Blydenstein, witness said he suggested to the prisoner the 


326 


not McDonald. 


Amsterdam Bank, and probably others. He now gave the 
dates of his interviews with him in Amsterdam, and said his 
transactions with him were all of an ordinary kind, and such 
as he might have conducted as a broker with other persons. 

Mr. Johann de Wael, a banker at Rotterdam, in partner¬ 
ship with^ his father, deposed that he knew the prisoner, 
McDonald, and saw him first on the 15th of November last, at 
his office in Rotterdam. [Another false identification. It 
was I, not McDonald. — Gr. B.] He asked if witness could 
purchase for him one or more bills on the London and West¬ 
minster Bank for about £600. Witness told him they would 
be difficult to be had, but he would try to get them for him. 
The prisoner produced 7,435 guilders, which was equivalent 
to about £623 3s. He gave witness an address at a hotel in 
London, to which to send the bills if he got them. Witness 
gave him a draft on London, on Messrs. Blydenstein, for 
£617 13s., and told him to call on them. He purchased for 
the prisoner a bill on the London and Westminster Bank 
for £300, drawn by P. S. Lucardie & Sons; and another for 
£300, of Collins & Maingay, drawn upon J. C. Gillman. The 
prisoner, McDonald, instructed witness that the bills were to 
be drawn to the order of F. A. Warren. The bills were sent 
in a registered letter to Warren, at the address he gave; and 
witness had an answer from him, acknowledging their receipt 
and enclosing witness’s card which he had previously given 
to McDonald. He afterwards purchased for him a bill for 
£158 13s. and 5c?., by Lucardie & Sons, on the London and 
Westminster Bank, and enclosed it in a letter addressed to 
one W. J. Spaulding, care of Messrs. Clews, Habicht & Co., 
London. He had not asked for an acknowledgment, and did 
not receive one. Being cross-examined by Mr. Metcalf, wit¬ 
ness said a Mr. Phillips called upon him about the evidence 
he was able to give, and showed him two photographs. He 
afterwards saw all the four prisoners at the Mansion House, 
including McDonald. That was after he had seen the photo¬ 
graphs. lie could not recollect exactly, when at the Mansion 


LIVERPOOL HEARD FROM. 


327 

House, which of the three prisoners, Austin Bidwell, George 
McDonald, and George Bidwell, was the man who dealt with 
him, but it was one of the three. He was now sure that 
McDonald was the man. [McDonald was not the man — it 
was I.—G. B.] 

Mr. Matthias Harttman, agent at Hamburg to Messrs. 
Behrenberg, Gossler & Co., proved that on the 2d of Decem¬ 
ber he received a letter signed W. J. Spaulding, containing 
1,400 thaler bank-notes, on the receipt of which he sent Mr. 
Spaulding, at Clews, Habicht & Co.’s, two bills, amounting 
together to 20,000 guilders. 

Mr. Edward Wilson Yates, merchant and banker at Liver¬ 
pool, said he knew the prisoner, McDonald, and saw him on 
the 6th of December, 1872, in his own private room. He 
said he had two or three thousand pounds to invest, and 
would like to have one or two banker’s bills to that amount, 
adding that he wanted first-class paper. Witness showed 
him some, and he selected one of Messrs. Brown, Shipley & 
Co. for XI,000, which he said he would take. He took it, 
and paid for it in Bank of England notes. 

By Mr. Metcalf. He saw the prisoner afterwards in the 
dock of the Mansion House. That was after he had seen 
four photographs at Liverpool. He picked out McDonald 
immediately on seeing him at the Mansion House. 

Mr. William Anderson, clerk to Messrs. Richardson, Spence 
& Co., Water Street, Liverpool, American merchants, said he 
knew the prisoner McDonald. He saw him first at their 
office in Liverpool, about the beginning of December. He 
called to know if they had any first-class bills to sell. Being 
asked for what purpose he wanted them, he said he had 
received a large sum of money in England, and wished to 
make temporary use of it. The answer was that they had no 
bills to sell. Being asked by witness why he came there, he 
said he had seen their names on letters of credit, as they were 
agents for many American houses. Witness said he would 
be more likely to get in London what he wanted than in. 


328 


A ROTHSCHILD'S SYMPATHY. 


Liverpool. The prisoner asked if witness knew where he 
could apply, and witness suggested to him to apply at Messrs. 
Samuels’s (now Messrs. Yates’s) Bank, and sent Mr. Coup¬ 
land, a clerk in the bank, to show him their establishment. 

By Mr. Metcalf, in cross-examination. Witness afterwards 
saw McDonald in the dock at the Mansion House. He had 
previously seen at Liverpool photographs of the four alleged 
bank forgers. He said in the presence of Coupland, McDon¬ 
ald was the man. Coupland had not then given his evidence. 

By Mr. Giffard. He had no doubt that McDonald was 
the man. Mr. Edward Coupland, a clerk to Messrs. Richard¬ 
son, Spence & Co., bankers, Liverpool, spoke to McDonald 
being the man he had shown to Messrs. Samuels’s bank in 
that city in December last. 

Mr. Ernest Chas. de Lorelli, a clerk in the English office 
of Messrs. Rothschild in Paris, recognized the prisoner, 
Austin Bidwell, as having seen him on the 14th of January 
last, at their office there, in the name of Warren. He went 
up to Mr. Gatliff, the head officer of the bank, and asked for 
a bill at three months on London, for <£4,500. Mr. Gatliff 
declined, as being contrary to their custom. The prisoner 
said he had been in an accident on the Northern Railway 
near Calais, and left shortly afterwards. He then had pieces 
of plaster on his forehead, and looked very unwell. About 
two hours afterwards he returned, upon which Mr. Gatliff 
had some conversation with Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, 
who came in and spoke to the prisoner, who again gave an 
account of the accident and said he had been much shaken. 
Baron Alphonse was a director of the Northern Railway of 
France. The Baron said he was sorry for him, and would do 
what he wanted in reference to the bill. The bill for £4,500 
produced was then prepared, and in the first instance the 
prisoner handed in 99,000 francs in Bank of France notes, 
which was not quite enough to pay for the bill. The value of 
the bill was 113,000 francs, and they sent the clerk to the 
prisoner’s hotel, upon which he paid the balance and received 
the bill. 


A BILL OF SAP UNZZl ON KORONAKI. 329 

Mr. Giffard explained to the court that this was a genuine 
acceptance of Messrs. Rothschild, which the prisoner, Austin 
Bid well, afterwards paid in to Col. Francis, the manager of 
the Western Branch of the Bank of England. 

Mr. Frederick Heinreich, another clerk to Messrs. Roths¬ 
child at Paris, was called to prove that, acting on instructions, 
he took the bill in question, for £4,500, to the Grand Hotel 
there, and handed it over to the prisoner, Austin Bidwell. 
He had previously seen him at the bank. 

Mr. E. Lewis Osgood, clerk to Messrs. Drexel, Haries & 
Co., Paris, spoke to having seen McDonald on the 29th of 
January, when that prisoner applied to them for a letter of 
credit, and deposited 50,000 francs. Witness was instructed 
to prepare a check for <£1,000 to the order of McDonald. He 
drew the check and took it to Mr. Haries’s room for signa¬ 
ture. Mr. Haries then said Mr. McDonald preferred a bill of 
exchange to a check, and a bill of exchange for £1,000, 
drawn by Messrs. Simpson & Co. on Messrs. Baring to the 
order of Messrs. Freres, Bruderer & Co., was substituted for 
the check. McDonald paid them for the bill after that, and 
still some money remained to his credit. 

Mr. Olivier Bixio, joint manager of the general American 
Agency Co., in Paris, identified McDonald and Austin Bid- 
well. He saw both of them on the 29th of January in Paris. 
Austin Bidwell called there to fetch some American bonds 
which he had left on the previous day, and which he had 
offered for sale to them. They declined buying them, and 
they were returned to him. Austin Bidwell then proposed 
buying a draft on London for £1,000 at three months. Wit¬ 
ness went to the bourse the same day and purchased for him 
a bill for £1,000 which was afterwards handed to him on his 
paying the price of it. It was a bill of Sapunzzi, of Constan¬ 
tinople, on Koronaki of Trieste. 

Mr. William Butler Duncan, of the firm of Messrs. Dun¬ 
can, Sherman & Co., merchants and bankers of New York, 
produced a letter addressed to George McDonald, care of his 


830 


SEIZURE OF A LETTER. 


firm, which was seized and opened by the sheriff of New York. 
It contained three Bank of England notes, one for <£5, and 
two for £100 each. He also produced thirteen bills of 
exchange for £4,000 in all which had been sent to his firm 
for collection, among them being one for £1,000 dated Bahia, 
Dec. 4, 1872, payable at ninety days sight at Messrs. Barings, 
drawn by Simpson, to the order of Messrs. Freres & Bruderer, 
and indorsed by them, Drexel, Haries & Co., and by the latter 
to George McDonald. 

At this stage, it being five o’clock, the case was adjourned 
until next day. 












Chapter XXXII 


THE TRIAL CONTINUED — FIFTH DAY, FRIDAY, AUGUST 22 d — A WAITER AND 
“CABBIES ” TESTIFY — “ QUITE LIGHT EVEN IN BIRMINGHAM ” — A LADY HOTEL- 
MANAGER’S TESTIMONY —MUCH CORRESPONDENCE —A MYSTERIOUS BOX — $ 220 ,- 
000 , LIKE FALSTAFF, HIDDEN AMONG “ SOILED LINEN ” — MR. DA COSTA OF NEW 
YORK, DETAILS “ THE RAPE OF THE LOCK”—ANOTHER HOTEL WAITER SPEAKS — 
THE SHERIFF TAKES THE JURY FOR AN AIRING IN A COACH-AND-FOUR. 


T HE trial begun on Monday was continued, and as before 
excited much interest and the court was crowded dur¬ 
ing the investigation. 

Josiah Winspear was the first witness called. He said he 
was a waiter at the Queen’s Hotel, Birmingham, and knew 



ACCOUNTANTS’ BANK NOTE OFFICE, BANK OF ENGLAND. 


the prisoner, George Bidwell. He had seen him twice there, 
the last time being about the middle of February. He occu¬ 
pied a private room in the hotel. On the second visit witness 

( 331 ) 


































382 


A REGISTERED LETTER. 


found the door locked on one occasion. Being cross-examined 
the witness said there was sometimes nearly a hundred guests 
at the hotel. He had not noticed anything peculiar in the 
manner of the prisoner George Bid well while there. The pris¬ 
oner wore a light overcoat and carried a satchel. He had the 
appearance of a foreigner. The next time he saw him he 
was in the dock at the Mansion House. 

Alfred Morley, a cab proprietor and driver, Birmingham, 
said he recognized the prisoner, George Bidwell. He saw 
him on or about the 20th of February when he drove him in 
his cab from the Queen’s Hotel, Birmingham, to the post- 
office. There he gave witness the address of a letter which he 
was to inquire about, and a florin to buy a shilling stamp. 
There was one letter waiting for him at the post-office, which 
he gave to the prisoner and he then drove him back to the 
Queen’s Hotel. Witness noticed that he spoke with a foreign 
accent, and took him to be a “ Yankee.” About two hours 
afterwards witness saw him get out of a cab driven by a man 
named Barker, and witness spoke to Barker afterwards about 
the circumstances. He saw the prisoner come out of the 
hotel on the occasion in question. 

John Barker, another Birmingham cab driver, deposed on 
or about the 20th of February he drove the prisoner George 
Bidwell, in his cab, and saw the prisoner Noyes. He drove 
George Bidwell from the Queen’s Hotel to the post-office. 
There the prisoner told witness to get off his box, which he 
did. He gave witness a large letter and told him to register 
it. The letter was stamped and he said if there was anything 
more to pay for it he was to pay it. Witness registered the 
letter and brought out the receipt to him. Prisoner folded 
it up, and tore it into very small pieces. Nothing extra had 
to be paid for the postage. Witness then drove him back to 
the Queen’s Hotel where he got out. He did not pay witness 
but said he would send his fare out. He joined the prisoner 
Noyes opposite the railway station. They talked together a 
few minutes, and then Bidwell went into the hotel and Noyes 


DOUBTFUL RECOGNITION. 


333 


to the railway station. Presently afterwards the “boots” 
brought out the fare and gave it to the witness. 

Cross-examined by Mr. Powell. That was about twenty 
minutes to four o’clock, and it was quite light even in Birming¬ 
ham. (Laughter.) The next time he saw George Bidwell 
and Noyes was at the Mansion House. He and the wit¬ 
ness Morley were together on that occasion. Witness went 
into the court to see if he could identify any one. He 
heard Morley give part of his evidence there. They after¬ 
wards traveled together in the same carriage to Birmingham. 
Witness had not then given his evidence. He had been shown 
a sketch, not a photograph, by a gentleman from London 
about three weeks before he went to the Mansion House. 
That might have been a detective officer, but he did not know 
that he was. The prisoner Bidwell tore the receipt up while 
in the cab and threw the pieces out into the street. Witness 
never saw him again until he saw him at the Mansion House. 

By Mr. Hollings. The Queen’s Hotel, Birmingham, is 
under the same roof as the station. Noyes joined Bidwell in 
the yard when Bidwell returned from the post-office. That 
was the first time the witness had seen Noyes, and lie then 
saw him for about two minutes. He indentified Noyes at the 
Mansion House before George Bidwell was in custody. 

By Mr. Powell. The letter registered was for America. 

[In the previous chapter I remarked that “ detectives 
were adepts in getting up ” certain kinds of evidence. The 
witnesses Winspear, Morley, and Barker, are good illustra¬ 
tions of that remark. When they saw me in Birmingham, 
I was clean shaven, save a pointed mustache, a la Napoleon, 
and had they not been manipulated by the detectives and had 
me pointed out as the man they had come to identify, they 
never could have recognized me, in two or three months 
after a casual meeting ; because when they saw me in the 
dock my face was covered with a thick, black, uniform, 
month’s growth, of stubby beard. In me a change from a 
mustache to a full beard effects such a transformation that 


334 


MISS KATE MARY ENGLISH, MANAGER. 


only friends, or those who have seen me often could recognize 
me. To show the nature of what he really knew, the letter 
Barker mailed was to the Bank of England and not to Amer¬ 
ica — the detective had overlooked “ refreshing ” his mem¬ 
ory on that point.— G. B.] 

Miss Kate Mary English, manager of Nelson’s Portland 
Hotel since August last, said she knew all the prisoners and 
had seen them at the hotel. On the 26th of August last, 
George Bidwell came there and took a room, staying a week. 
During that week she saw the prisoners, Austin Bidwell and 
McDonald. They came in those names. George Bidwell said 
his brother Austin was staying at a larger hotel, and that on 
a previous occasion he had stayed at the Langham, and had 
come from a journey in Ireland and was going to Eastbourne. 
He left on the 29th and returned on the 1st of September. 
He remained at the hotel two days, and then left saying he 
was going abroad, and he gave her directions about his letters, 
and those of his brother and McDonald. On going to the 
Continent he left a letter for “ Mr. H directing witness 
to give it to him. While he was away letters arrived. After 
he had gone she received a letter from George Bidwell as to 
where she was to send his letters in Paris. After that she 
sent to an address he gave in Paris all letters that arrived at 
the hotel for him. On the 14th of September she received a 
letter (produced) from George Bidwell, dated from Trouville, 
France, directing her where to send any letter that might 
arrive addressed to Mr. H On the 23d of September she 
received a letter from George Bidwell, dated Paris, September 
20th, directing her as to the further disposal of letters that 
might arrive addressed to him or to his brother Austin. She 
afterwards forwarded about a dozen letters to him, and a tele¬ 
gram to an address he had given. The letters had come 
principally from America. She sent them on towards the 
end of October, and George McDonald called a few days after¬ 
wards at the hotel and thanked her, paying her in the mean¬ 
time for the postage, and giving her directions as to future 


MR. BID WELL'S FRIEND. 


335 


letters that might arrive, adding that Mr. George Bidwell, 
whom he said was traveling on the Continent, would be in 
London soon. Towards the middle or end of November, 
George Bidwell himself called at the hotel, and asked for 
letters, and inquired whether “ Mr. H had called, adding 
that he had been expecting him. He was aware that McDon¬ 
ald had called and paid for the postage. In December 
“H (Noyes) was at the hotel, and giving as his name E. 

N. H inquired for letters. She had never seen him before, 
and asked if he was Mr. Bidwell’s friend. He replied that he 
was, and she gave him a letter which Bidwell had left there 
for him. He also asked if she would receive letters for him 
if called for. She replied that he being a friend of Mr. Bid- 
well she would do so. He called once after that to ask for 
letters. On the 6th of March witness saw George Bidwell. 
He took breakfast at the hotel, and asked her to take care of 
some small things for him until he called for them. A cab¬ 
man afterwards called with a letter from George Bidwell, 
directing that the things he had left should be given to the 
bearer, which was done. 

Mr. Alfred Henry Remond, manager at the head office of 
the North Atlantic Express Co., said he knew McDonald. On 
the 5th of March he called on witness to have a box (which 
he produced) sent to a Major Matthews in New York. It 
purported to be forwarded by Charles Lossing, London, to 
Major George Matthews, New York, and the contents were 
described as wearing apparel not in use, and the box was 
directed to be kept in New York until called for. 

Mr. Willard Brigham Farwell, general superintendent of 
the North Atlantic Express Co., who have an office on Broad¬ 
way, New York, produced the way-bill relating to the box in 
question, and said the box arrived there on the 20th of 
March. He found the box after a search on one of the drays 
of the company. A woman had come that same day to 
inquire for the box, producing a letter signed George Mat¬ 
thews, upon which witness stopped the delivery of the box. 


836 


THE OPENING OF THE TRUNK. 


The box was afterwards opened in the presence of witness, 
who found in it three bundles of bonds, representing in all 
1220,920. He also found in it some visiting cards bearing 
the name George Bid well, two watches, some wearing apparel, 
and dies for stamping. Some of the bonds were wrapped in 
a nightshirt, and others in some soiled linen. The box was 
opened in the presence of several witnesses whom witness 
named. Witness eventually handed all the contents over to 
the receiver, who gave witness a receipt for them. 

Mr. Charles M. Da Costa was next called. He deposed 
that he was a member of the law firm of Blatchford, Seward, 
Griswold & Da Costa, of New York, who he said had acted 
as solicitors there to the Bank of England during these 
proceedings. He was present at the opening of the trunk 
produced, and afterwards had delivered to him the bonds pro¬ 
duced, and other property, by Mr. Jarvis, the receiver ap¬ 
pointed by the Supreme Court of New York. The property 
having been claimed, as the direct proceeds of the forgeries, 
it was immediately turned over to Mr. Peter Williams, of the 
firm of Messrs. Freshfield, solicitors to the bank. It included 
American bonds worth in English money about <£45,000, 
which were tightly folded up in three parcels, just as they 
were now, at the bottom of the trunk among some soiled 
linen. The trunk also contained some watches and dies, with 
the monogram “ G. B.” engraved on them, also a little bag of 
foreign coins, a large collection of shells, an elegant new 
dressing-gown, and clothes of different kinds. Witness also 
obtained from the post-office at New York, through Mr. Jar¬ 
vis, the receiver, the two packages produced, one addressed 
G. C. Brownell, Esq., Brevoort House, Fifth Avenue, New 
York, and the other addressed Austin Bidwell, Esq., New 
York, U. S. A., care of New York Safety Deposit Co., No. 140 
Broadway. They had been detained there by Mr. Jarvis, the 
receiver in the suit, and handed over to witness’s firm eventu¬ 
ally. The envelope of the second letter bore English stamps, 
and the New York postmark of March 13, 1873. It was a 


TRANSFERRED FROM DARTMOOR TO WOKING PRISON. 






















































































































































































































































































































































































































■ 






• - *V 







































































































.. 






' 













■ 










































MAIL PACKAGES OPENED. 


337 


registered letter, and bore the London postmark of the 25th 
of February last, and also the Cannon Street postmark. It 
contained bonds for $17,500 or $17,600, equivalent to about 
<£3,700 in English money, and the seals on the envelopes 
corresponded with one of the dies found in the trunk. The 
other package, addressed G. C. Brownell, Esq., bore the New 
York postmark of March 20, 1873, and also contained 
$17,500. It likewise bore a similar seal to that of the other. 
Witness also procured from the receiver a letter (produced) 
addressed George M. McDonald, Esq., Post-office, New York 
City, U. S. A. It was dated the 11th of March last, and bore 
the Edinburgh postmark of that date, and that of New York 
of March 24th. It also bore part of the impression of a seal 
with the monogram “ G. B.” Witness also produced other 
letters similar in various respects, found in the trunk, and 
with that his evidence concluded. 

James Richardson, a waiter at Durant’s Hotel, identified 
the prisoners, Noyes and McDonald. On the 27th of Decem¬ 
ber, he said, Noyes came there at night and engaged a bed¬ 
room, giving afterwards the name Edwin Noyes, and on the 
next day he had his room changed, saying he would stay 
about a month. At first he brought no luggage, but next day 
did about half-past ten at night. He stayed about a fortnight, 
and between fifty and sixty letters afterward came for him. 
McDonald visited him at the hotel on one occasion, and they 
left together in a hansom cab. [Another case of mistaken 
identification. It was “Warren.”—G. B.] Noyes returned 
to the hotel the same night. He told witness afterwards that 
he had been very successful in his business with McDonald; 
that he had advertised for a situation as clerk, which he had 
obtained, and had paid <£300 as security. Witness remarked 
that it was a risk to pay away so much money to a stranger, 
to which he replied, “ Not with such gentlemen as these. I 
think I am all right.” 

At this point, the court having sat upwards of seven 
hours, the case was again adjourned until Saturday morning. 

22 


Chapter XXXIII. 


THE TRIAL CONTINUED —SIXTH DAT, SATURDAY, AUGUST 23 d — LONDON SALESMEN 
REMEMBER GOOD CUSTOMERS—BIDWELL BUYS A HAT — AN EXPENSIVE CANE 

— NOYES ORDERS SHIRTS AND PAYS FOR THEM — A CHAMBERMAID RECOLLECTS 
■— A LADY HOTEL KEEPER’S STORY — THE TELL-TALE BLOTTER — ANOTHER 
MYSTERIOUS BOX — FRANZ ANTON HEROLD’S CURIOUS EVIDENCE — A RE¬ 
MARKABLY QUICK JOURNEY TO PARIS — MORE CLOTHES—“i THOUGHT HIM A 
PERFECT GENTLEMAN” — “SUPERB” COOKERY — A POST-MORTEM DEPOSITION 

— “NOT LOOKING FOR FENIANS” — DIAMONDS—LIGHT GOLD—I PURCHASE 
LARGE SUMS IN FOREIGN GOLD AND NOTES — REFERENCES REQUIRED TO OPEN 
BANK ACCOUNTS — TESTIMONY OF THOMAS STRAKER, ENGRAVER AND PRINTER. 



T the usual hour, 10 o’clock, the case for the prosecution 


_jL\. was continued, the court being organized the same, 
except that George Bidwell was defended by Mr. Besley. The 
Old Bailey court-room was crowded with spectators of both 


sexes. 


Henry Thomas Hagger, salesman until recently to Messrs. 
Kino, tailors, Regent Street, said on or about December 19th 
last the prisoner Noyes called at their warehouse, giving the 
name of Brooks, and ordered some clothes, for which he after¬ 
ward paid <£3 10s. He subsequently had other clothes for 
which he paid £56 8s., and he gave as his address “Nelson’s 
Hotel, Great Portland Street.” Witness also knew the 
prisoners, George McDonald and Austin Bidwell, as cus¬ 
tomers on one occasion in September. McDonald gave 
him an address at Chiselhurst. He first saw Austin Bidwell 
about the beginning of November when he called and gave an 
order for clothes. They made clothes for him to the amount 


of £23. 


William Mills, shopman to Messrs. E. Bax & Co., hatters, 
Strand, proved that on November 26th last the prisoner 


( 338 ) 



MESSRS. BRADS IIA W, MAPLE SON, AND BROOKS. 339 

George Bidwell called at their place and bought a hat. On 
December 19th he and the prisoner Noyes called, and George 
Bidwell introduced Noyes by the name of Brooks. On Jan¬ 
uary 24th George Bidwell called again. 

Thomas Henry Jessy, manager to the same firm at their 
shop in Duncannon Street, said that he knew Austin Bidwell, 
George Bidwell, and George McDonald. On August 20th last 
he saw Austin and George there, when they brought a stick 
to be mounted and to have the words “G. M. from George 
and Austin” engraved upon it. After that had been done 
Austin called for the stick and took it away. The mounting 
cost £1 10s. George McDonald gave his address at the 
Alexandra Hotel. 

Wm. Henry Boddemeade, salesman to Messrs. Pepe & 
Plant, hosiers in Waterloo Place, recognized the prisoner 
Noyes, by the name “ E. F. Williams,” which he gave on one 
occasion on ordering a linen shirt. Afterwards tried it on 
and ordered seven others. They were to be made at one 
guinea each; gave as his address “ E. F. Williams, Nelson’s 
Portland Hotel, Great Portland Street.” He paid for them 
and took them away. Witness had since seen some of his 
shirts in the possession of the police officers. 

Caroline Beard, a chambermaid at the Grosvenor Hotel, 
recognized the prisoners,‘Noyes, Austin Bidwell, and George 
McDonald. She knew Austin as Captain Bradshaw. He came 
about the beginning of December and left on the 27th of that 
month. George McDonald, who gave the name of Mapleson, 
stayed four or five weeks. Austin had previously told her he 
had a friend coming, and they would make one bedroom do. 
When McDonald came he and the other occupied the same 
room. They afterwards said they had another friend coming 
and she asked them if he would want another room. The 
reply was that he would. That was about the middle of De¬ 
cember. Noyes, in the name of Brooks, came afterward, but 
only stayed two or three nights. She last saw Austin Bid- 
well on December 27th. 


340 


PAPER WITNESSES. 


Miss Agnes B. Green said she kept a private hotel at 
Number 7, St. James Place, and she knew the prisoner 
McDonald as Captain McDonald. He took rooms there and 
stayed from the 6th of February till the 3d of March. He 
occupied the sitting-room and bedroom adjoining on the ground 
floor. [All the forged bills were prepared in these rooms.— 
G. B.] Her landlord was Mr. Walter Coulson, the surgeon. 
She knew George Bidwell. She saw him several times at the 
hotel. She used to go to Captain McDonald’s rooms. On 
March 2d McDonald left and took his luggage with him. She 
saw him on the day he left. He said he was going to Paris. 
Next day she went into the bedroom, which had not been 
occupied in the meantime. She found there gbveral news¬ 
papers and some blotting paper (four pieces) with some ink 
impressions upon them. [The blotting paper was produced.] 
She read something about the case on Monday, March 3d, in 
the Daily Telegram , after McDonald had left, and in conse¬ 
quence she communicated with the police, and afterwards 
gave up the blotting paper to William Smith, a city police 
officer, and also the city directory (produced) which McDonald 
had left behind him. 

From that, said Mr. Poland, one of the counsel for the 
prosecution, addressing the court, some pages with the names 
of engravers upon them had been cut, including those of 
Thomas Straker of Ivy-lane, Newgate Street, and others. He 
added that the page with the name of the governor, directors, 
and officers of the Bank of England had been also abstracted, 
as also the names of certain merchants and bankers. Mr. 
Read, the Deputy Clerk of Arraigns, read from the blotting- 
paper the various marks upon it. Among those marks were 
“ accepted payable at,” “ London and Westminster Bank,” 
“ the Bank of Belgium and Holland,” “ Ten thousand,” “ St. 
Petersburgh,” “ A. Biron,” a Schroeder & Co.,” “C. E. Dal¬ 
ton,” “ F. A. W.,” and many others less distinct. 

Witness, resuming, said that she remembered on one occa¬ 
sion her manager bringing her a £100 note to endorse. Being 


MAC A COLD. 


341 


cross-examined, witness said she eventually gave information 
to the city police through her manager at their office in the 
Old Jewry. She did that in consequence of reading an 
account of the forgeries. She sent information, she said, 
because her manager had told her the whole of their conduct 
was very extraordinary. 

Franz Anton Herold, manager of Miss Green’s private 
hotel, said that he remembered McDonald coming there, and 
giving as an introduction the name of Dr. Coulson. He 
engaged a bedroom and sitting-room on the ground floor. 
The window of the bedroom looked into St. James Street. He 
had seen the prisoner George Bidwell there. He first came 
on February 7th. Witness knew him by the name George, 
from Mr. McDonald so calling him. On the day McDonald 
arrived, he said he should like to have fires as large as they 
could be made, assigning as a reason, that he came from a 
very hot climate, and felt chilly. Witness carried out his 
instructions about the fires, but the prisoner still complained 
that they were not large enough. On February 10th, 
George Bidwell was there, and witness got for him the 
Continental Railway Guide. The same day, McDonald, in 
Bidwell’s presence, asked witness to get a wooden box 
made for him, saying he wanted to send to India a machine 
and a cloak to wrap it in. Witness had a box made for 
the express purpose, and gave it to McDonald. A few days 
after he had been at the hotel, McDonald ordered him to 
tell the servants when they came to his door to knock loudly, 
and not to enter until he said “ Come in.” He stayed at the 
hotel until March 3d. 

George Bidwell came nearly every day, sometimes as early 
as half-past seven or eight o’clock in the morning. He gen¬ 
erally rang the front door-bell, and McDonald himself used 
to come out in his shirt sleeves and open the door, his bedroom 
being next the entrance hall. Witness had heard George 
Bidwell knock at McDonald’s window with a stick or um¬ 
brella, and McDonald coming out, was about to open the 


342 


BUSINESS BY GASLIGHT. 


door, but witness opened it instead. George Bidwell used to 
remain the greater part of the forenoon, and to go out and in 
during the day. They were always writing in the bedroom, and 
used candles and gas almost day and night. They lighted all 
the gas burners there were in the room. The sitting-room was 
at the back, and each of the two rooms had a separate entrance 
and a communicating door. The gas globes in the room were 
all cracked from the pressure of gas, and the ceiling above the 
burners was very black. The blinds used generally to be down 
in the daytime as well as at night. He remembered McDonald 
asking him for a piece of glass, and witness gave him the 
piece produced which he found in the room after he left. On 
going into the room, he used to notice papers like bills of 
exchange on the table. He remembered once McDonald 
receiving two telegrams. He last saw Bidwell on March 1st. 
McDonald left on March 3d, sending his baggage off in two 
cabs, and walking away himself. He left no address, but 
said he was going to Paris, but would return that same night. 
Witness said upon that, “ You are a very quick traveler,” 
(Laughter.) He gave some directions to witness about a dis¬ 
patch hox before he went away. After he had gone, witness 
found in the bedroom and sitting-room several foreign news¬ 
papers. On first coming to the hotel, he gave witness <£170 
in gold to get changed for Bank of England notes. Witness 
did so. 

Replying to Mr. Metcalf and Mr. Besley, in cross-exam¬ 
ination, the witness said McDonald was almost always writing 
in the bedroom, and with the blinds down. Witness some¬ 
times went in to ask for orders without being rung for. His 
suspicions had been excited before Bidwell went away. 
Referring to the sheet of glass produced, witness said he took 
it out of a picture frame in his own room. He never saw the 
glass used for any purpose. He had seen George Bidwell 
write in the bedroom, and Bidwell and McDonald were gener¬ 
ally together either in the sitting-room or the bedroom. 

Thomas Brown Barnard, salesman to Messrs. Newton & 


MUCH RAIMENT. 


343 


Co., tailors, Hanover Square, said he knew George Bidwell as 
Horace Arthur. He called there on May 1st, last year, and 
ordered £43 worth of clothes. Being asked for a reference, 
he paid X10 on account'. He called and tried the clothes on, 
and afterwards paid for them. Witness did not see him again 
until December 6th, when he gave an order for more clothes. 
On December 12th, he called again accompanied by McDon¬ 
ald, whom witness knew by the name of Mapleson. The firm 
also made clothes for Noyes, who was known as Mr. E. F. 
Williams, to the amount of <£21 15s., for which he paid on the 
4th of January. He saw George Bidwell about December 1st, 
who then gave an order for a dressing-gown as a present. 
Towards the end of January, George Bidwell gave an order 
for a hunting suit, which he directed to be sent to the Rugby 
railway station. On that day, he paid <£50 on account. The 
hunting-suit was sent to Rugby on Feburary 18th, and wit¬ 
ness afterwards learned from him that he had received it. 
On March 4th, witness received a letter in pencil from him 
“ H. Arthur,” in consequence, he altered a coat as requested. 
Next day he called at their shop in a very agitated state and 
paid his account, taking away with him the clothes they had 
made for him, some of which, in the possession of the police, 
witness had since recognized. 

Mrs. Ann Thomas said she lived at 21 Enfield Road, 
Hagerston, in April last, and knew Austin Bidwell, George 
Bidwell, and McDonald. She saw George Bidwell first. He 
took apartments at her house in April, in 1872, engaging to 
leave at any time. He gave the name “ Mr. Anthony,” 
and was accompanied by another person. While George Bid- 
well lodged there, Austin Bidwell and McDonald visited him 
every day. A parcel came for a Mr. Warren, which she took 
up to him. It was kept. 

Upon the counsel for the prosecution attempting to elicit 
an unfavorable opinion as to the judgment she had formed 
regarding George Bidwell from his general conduct while in 
her house, witness said* with warmth: “No; I thought him 


344 AN AD VERTISEMENT FOR MRS. THOMAS. 

a perfect gentleman! ” Her spirited reply caused much 
amusement in court. 

Bidwell remained with her a little more than a week. 
When he left she missed a latch-key, which she afterwards 
received back in a letter, dated from the Terminus Hotel, 
London Bridge, in which the writer expressed his obligations 
for her kindness and attention to him and his friends during 
their stay, adding that everything in her house was neat, and 
the cooking had been superb. (Laughter.) After George 
Bidwell left, Austin Bidwell called and took away some 
things. In March last she received a letter from “Mr. 
Anthony” (otherwise George Bidwell), from Edinburgh, 
dated the 14th, in which he stated that it was his intention 
to return to his old lodgings in a day or two. [This was just 
after the hunt through Ireland.— G. B.] Witness had no 
room at that time, but she engaged a bed and a sitting-room 
for him at an opposite neighbor’s, and wrote to him in Edin¬ 
burgh to that effect. 

Mr. George C. Oke, chief clerk to the Lord Mayor at the 
Mansion House, produced the original deposition taken by 
him at the justice’s room, of a witness named James M’Kelvie, 
an Edinburgh detective, who had died since the committal of 
the prisoners for trial. 

M’Kelvie said: “ I am a private detective officer, residing 
at 120 Nicholson Street, Edinburgh. I received certain in¬ 
formation from Gibson, Craig & Co. of Edinburgh, writers to 
the Signet , and in consequence of this I watched the house 
No. 22 Cumberland Street, Edinburgh, on Wednesday last, 
April 2d, from about twenty-five minutes past ten o’clock in 
the morning. It is a private house. The prisoner came out 
of the house to the door, looked around, went back again 
and remained in about twenty minutes, and then came out, 
and from his appearance I suspected that he was George 
Bidwell. I watched him and saw where he went. He posted 
a letter in a pillar-box, and then he went to a stationer’s shop, 
and then to a baker’s shop. When standing at the door he 


THE DEAD SCOTCHMAN'S “STORY” 345 

looked ’round and came out and went ’round the corner, and 
in about twenty yards he set off to run as hard as he could. 
I ran after him. He ran into a blacksmith shop, from which 
he turned back and passed me. I took no notice of him as 
he did so. He walked on a little, and then started to run 
again. He then ran down Drummond Place and Scotland 
Street. He went through Scotland Street lane, swung him¬ 
self over the church railings, and jumped over several stone 
walls, one after the other. I followed him, and he went 
through a private house, into Scotland Street again. I got 
’round to the street by another way, and was there as soon as 
he. I ran him to Duncan Street, Stockbridge, in which he 
came to a standstill and could not run any farther. He made 
several thrusts at me with a stick which he had in his hand . 
I took out of my pocket a small baton and held it out as if it 
were a pistol , and told him to stand and be a gentleman , and 
give me his hand ; to be a brother , and not a coward .” [Pure 
fancy and self-glorification. — G. B.] “I got hold of his hand 
and held him. I called him 4 brother,’ because I fancied he 
gave me a Masonic sign. I got assistance, and drove him in 
a cab to Messrs. Gibson, Craig & Co.’s office, and said, 4 You 
are George Bidwell! You are wanted for the forgery on the 
Bank of England! He spoke some foreign language, and I 
do not know what he said. I understood him to say that he 
was not a Fenian. I said, 4 1 know that; I am not looking 
for any Fenians/ When I got him to the office I asked him 
whether he could give any account of himself, and why he 
ran over those private grounds and stone walls, and he would 
not give me any answer. A few minutes later he said that 
he was subject to giddiness in the head, and took to those fits 
of running away. [Great laughter in court.] I asked him 
what I might call him, and he said, 4 You may call me James, 
if you like.’ He would give no answer to any question, after 
that. He spoke in very broken English, like a Frenchman. 
I gave him a book to read. He said that either his father or 
mother belonged to France, and the other to Germany. He 


346 


TI1E JEWELERS' HARVEST. 


also said that he had been to Paris. I told him that there 
was an old friend of his doing five years there just now. 
[More laughter.] I bound up his leg, which was cut and 
bleeding. He was then handed over to the police in Edinburgh, 
and I had nothing more to do with him. The stationer’s 
shop into which 1 saw him go was kept by Mr. Anderson. I 
did not search him or the lodgings. I only watched the 
lodgings.” 

Mr. John Robert Gray, assistant to Messrs. Hawes & Son, 
14 Cranbourne Street, jewelers, said that in December last he 
sold a watch to a person giving the name of George Bidwell, 
and the address 7 Upper Gloucester Place. The same per¬ 
son called again on January 29th, when witness sold him a 
brilliant ring for 100 guineas. He paid with a bank-note for 
£100 and £5 in gold. He also sold him a carbuncle and 
diamond set for 50 guineas. He paid that sum in gold. 
The same day witness paid the £100 note into his masters’ 
account at the City Bank. He afterwards saw the jewelry 
that he had sold to George Bidwell at the Mansion House, 
and he identified it. 

Mr. Walter Weston Goss, cashier at the Bond Street 
branch of the City Bank, deposed that Messrs. Hawes & Son, 
jewelers, kept an account there, and on January 29th a £100 
bank-note was paid into the credit of their account. [This 
was one of the notes paid to McDonald at the bank on Jan¬ 
uary 28th, in exchange for gold.] 

William Gardner said he was in the service of his father, 
a commission and diamond merchant at Edinburgh. In 
February last he was living at Barnesbury, and in conse¬ 
quence of a letter he went to 17 St. Janies Place on the 
evening of the 27th. He asked for Mr. McDonald, and was 
taken to a room on the ground floor, where he saw the pris¬ 
oner of that name. He showed him some diamonds. After 
looking at them, the prisoner desired him to call again the 
next morning. Witness did so, and the prisoner purchased 
one large and three small diamonds, for £300. He gave 



BOGUS PEARLS. 


347 


him in payment three <£100 bank-notes. Witness made out 
a bill and handed him a receipt for the money. On that 
occasion McDonald showed him a dressing-bag which he said 
had been given to him. Witness returned to the house in 
the afternoon, at McDonald’s request, and saw the prisoner 
George Bid well in company with McDonald. Bid well looked 
at some diamonds, but declined to purchase them. 

Mr. Benjamin Nathan, a diamond merchant in St. James 
Terrace, Lambeth Road, said that on August 24th last he was 
at Messrs. Welby’s shop in Garrick Street, and saw there the 
prisoner George Bidwell. He sold some diamonds to him for 
£63. He gave the name of Charles Warren, and the address 
Charing Cross Hotel. He subsequently made appointments 
to meet him at that and other hotels. On March 6th last he 
saw him again at Messrs. Welby’s. They went to Bibra’s 
Hotel in St. Martin’s Lane, where he sold him four diamond 
lockets, two pearl pins, one turquoise and pearl pin in the 
shape of a parrot, a small keyless watch, a gold necklet, with 
three hooks to hold lockets, and a vinaigrette. [He sold me 
the pearls for genuine; they were bogus. — G. B.] The bill 
came to £114, which the prisoner paid him. The prisoner 
became somewhat excited on that occasion. 

Mr. John Henry Welby, wholesale diamond merchant in 
Garrick Street, Covent Garden, saw and recognized the pris¬ 
oners, George McDonald and George Bidwell. They were 
both at his place of business in February last. They had 
come previously, but no business was done. On March 6th 
he remembered seeing George Bidwell and the witness, Mr. 
Nathan, in his shop. The prisoner, whom he knew by the 
name of Warren, selected some diamonds of the value of 
£280. He paid for them in Dutch bank-notes. 

Mr. Edward Francis Gedge, an underwriter at the Royal 
Exchange Assurance Office, said lie knew the prisoner McDon¬ 
ald. On February 24th last, he called there and asked to 
have some American bonds in a packet addressed to New 
York insured. Witness filled up a slip containing the num- 


348 


INSURANCE. 


bers of the bonds; which the prisoner had called over to him 
from the bonds themselves. The policy was made out in the 
name of E. N. H and the sum insured was £2,100. He 
signed the slip “ For E. N. H Geo. McDonald.” The 
policy was never called for. He subsequently instructed him 
to insure other bonds of the value of £3,600, in the name of 
“Austin Bidwell, New York.” The prisoner on that occasion 
brought a slip with the numbers of the bonds already written. 

Mr. George Peter Richardson, a clerk in the Royal 
Exchange Insurance Office, said he saw McDonald on Feb¬ 
ruary 25th, when he came about the second policy mentioned 
by Mr. Gedge. The prisoner requested the witness to take 
charge of the two policies, as he was going abroad for some 
time with Mr. H 

Mr. Robert C. M. Bowles, said in April last he was a 
banker in the Strand. He had never seen the prisoner Austin 
Bidwell. He denied that the prisoner had withdrawn £7,500 
from his bank, as he had represented to the manager of the 
Continental Bank. No one named Bidwell, Horton, or War¬ 
ren, ever banked with him. 

Mr. Henry Harris, the country manager to Messrs. Baum 
& Son, money changers, 58 Lombard Street, deposed that he 
knew the prisoner George Bidwell by the name of Nicholl or 
Nicholls. He first saw him on November 30th last, when he 
exchanged £400 in Bank of England notes into foreign money 
for him. On January 21st he saw him again, and sold him 
£1,220 worth of French gold and notes, for which he paid in 
bank-notes. On January 24th he saw a person who gave the 
name and address as it now appeared in their books, “ Yoges, 
28 George Street, Manchester Square,” for whom he exchanged 
£500 in bank-notes into Dutch money. On February 8th he 
saw George Bidwell again. On that occasion he brought 
£250 in English gold, and.the witness gave him Austrian 
and Dutch money in exchange. On the 10th he came again, 
and brought £170 in bank-notes which he exchanged for for¬ 
eign money. On February 28th he saw him again, when he 


LIGHT WEIGHTS. 


349 



brought £200 in bank-notes. He said he wanted to exchange 
them for light English gold, remarking that he desired to pay¬ 
back in his own coin a friend who had a day or two previously- 
given him light gold. Witness took him to Messrs. Barclays’ 
and got the notes exchanged for him. 

[The sovereigns were delivered from the bank in sealed bags 
containing 1,000, and on some occasions, I merely broke the 
seal and removed the slip showing the date when it was put up, 


MACHINE FOR WEIGHING GOLD. 

tied the bags up again, and sent them directly back to re-ex¬ 
change for notes — yet there would be several shillings to pay 
for loss on light sovereigns. After being in circulation, most 
sovereigns become “ light”—when run through the very deli¬ 
cate weighing machines in use at the Bank of England. But 
how about those I returned without removing them from the 
bags ? Knowing that all who bring gold to the bank are 
expecting a deduction for light weights, is such an instance as 
above some clerk’s “ perquisite ” ? Afterwards, I purchased 






















350 


AMERICAN BONDS WANTED. 


the light gold, the witness Harris mentions, to mix in with 
that taken from the bank, so that when it was re-weighed, it 
would convey tlje impression to the weigh-master that it had 
been for some time in circulation. In his opening speech Mr. 
Giffard was correct in stating that this was done to break 
the connection so that the Bank *of England notes could not 
be traced to us.— G. B.] 

Mr. Harold Anthony Smith, clerk to Messrs. Baring Bros., 
said on January 29th last, he received an application for a 
letter of credit for <£1,000 on New York. The person apply¬ 
ing for it gave the name of E. N. Hales. The applicant being 
asked his address, replied “Brighton.” Witness inquired if 
that was sufficient, and he said it was. The letter was paid 
for in ten bank-notes for £100 each. (These notes had been 
paid to McDonald on the 28th, in exchange for gold.) Mr. 
James Searle, Junior, said he was a stock-broker at Bartholo¬ 
mew House in partnership with Mr. Watson. He knew the 
prisoner McDonald. He came to their office on February 
21st, and asked if they were members of the stock exchange 
and stock and share brokers. He replied they were, and he 
inquired in turn his name and who had introduced him to 
them. He replied he had just arrived from abroad, and was 
staying at Chiselhurst, and he could give no introduction. 
Witness told him it was not their custom to do business with 
any one without an introduction. He answered that he did 
not know it was necessary, and that he intended to purchase 
£10,000 worth of American bonds, and that he would pay for 
them immediately in bank-notes or gold. Witness still 
declined to do business with him without an introduction, and 
he left. Next day the prisoner brought to them a letter of 
credit on Messrs. J. S. Morgan & Co., and they, knowing that 
Messrs. Morgan did not grant such letters until after inquiry, 
consented to take that as sufficient introduction. They pur¬ 
chased for him £10,000 worth of American bonds which he 
duly paid for. On the 1st of March, he came again, and said 
he had £20,000 to invest. He did not make any purchase on 
that occasion. 


COLOSSAL SALES OF U. S. BONDS. 


851 


Mr. Alfred Joseph Baker, clerk to Messrs. Jay Cooke, 
M’Culloch & Co., American bankers, Lombard Street, de¬ 
posed that he knew the prisoner Austin Bidwell under the 
name of F. A. Warren, and first saw him some time in May, 
1872. He next saw him in August, with reference to the pur¬ 
chase of some Portuguese stock. He first saw the prisoner 
Noyes on January 9th, and afterwards on twelve _ different 
occasions, when he purchased American bonds on behalf of 
C. J. Horton. Being cross-examined by Mr. McIntyre, Q. C., 
and Mr. Ribton, he said Austin Bidwell made several pur¬ 
chases of bonds in May, August, and September, 1872. Ameri¬ 
can bonds were purchased to a very large amount in the city. 
Last year witness’s house alone put upon the market $75,- 
000,000 of United States bonds. Witness at first understood 
that Noyes himself was Mr. Horton. But the prisoner after¬ 
wards told him his own name was Noyes and that he was a 
clerk of Horton’s. On one occasion he said his master was 
about to take an office in the Poultry. There was nothing at 
all unusual in the transactions with the prisoners. In re-ex¬ 
amination by Mr. Giffard, he said on the 28th of February, 
the day before Noyes was arrested, the prisoner ordered the 
firm to purchase $25,000 in United States bonds, and such 
purchase was effected, but the bonds were never delivered. 

Mr. Alfred Lidington, chief cashier to Messrs. Clews, 
Habicht & Co., American bankers, Old Broad Street, said he 
knew the prisoner George Bidwell by the name of W. J* 
Spaulding. He bought some bonds of them in January last, 
and paid with six £100 notes. (These were notes received 
by McDonald at the bank in exchange for gold.) A few days 
afterwards he called again and paid a small balance due to 
the firm. He afterwards bought three bills of exchange, and 
asked witness if they were good acceptances. Witness prom¬ 
ised to inquire, and he left them. He subsequently brought 
eight or ten other bills for discount. (These were the bills 
produced by the American witness, Mr. Duncan.) Witness 
inquired if he had not a banking account, and he replied “Not 


352 


“ BROOKS: 


at present.” Witness asked him to sign his name and ad¬ 
dress in their signature book, and he wrote “ W. J. Spauld¬ 
ing, Brighton.” Witness said that Brighton was a large 
place, and that they must have some other address. Prisoner 
said that it was quite sufficient, and any letter or telegram 
so addressed would reach him. The firm eventually declined 
to discount the bill. 

Mr. Albert Jordan, another clerk to Messrs. Clews, 
Habicht & Co., said he was present when the bonds referred 
to were delivered to George Bidwell. He identified from the 
package addressed to “ G. C. Brownell, N. Y.,” some of the 
bonds so sold to the prisoner. Replying to Mr. Ribton, he 
said that he remembered seeing Noyes on the 5th of February, 
when he told him he was clerk to Mr. Horton. He after¬ 
wards received a letter from him signed “ for C. J. Horton, 
E. Noyes.” He gave as a reference the Continental Bank, 
and witness accompanied him there. He was there identified 
as Horton’s clerk. Noyes told him Horton was an American 
merchant then staying at the Terminus Hotel, London 
Bridge. 

Mr. Henry West said he was clerk to Messrs. J. S. Morgan 
& Co., American merchants. He knew the prisoner George 
McDonald. He called at Messrs. Morgans on the first of Feb¬ 
ruary and wanted to open an account with them with a sum 
of £1,280. Witness said it was usual, before doing business, 
to receive some reference, and the prisoner then produced a 
letter of credit from their Paris correspondents. They con¬ 
sented for the time to receive the £1,280 on deposit, and 
promised to make further inquiries. On February 20th wit¬ 
ness handed him back the money by a check on the London 
Joint Stock Bank. He gave them a receipt. 

Mr. Thomas Straker, an engraver and printer at 16 Ivy- 
lane, Paternoster Row, said he knew the prisoner George Bid- 
well by the name of Brooks. He called upon him about De¬ 
cember 18th, and he said he had been recommended to him 
by Messrs. Nelson. He brought two copper plates with blank 


DEPUTY GOVERNOR CALLING THE ROLL AT WOKING PRISON 

















































































































































































































































































































































COPPER-PLATE WORK. 


353 


bill forms on them, and asked witness if he did copper-plate 
work. Witness replied that he did, and prisoner inquired 
what he would make him 500 impressions for. He said fifteen 
shillings. One of the plates had the figure “ 1 ” upon it, and 
the other had the word “ first,” and the prisoner desired that 
this arrangement should be reversed. Witness said that he 
could easily do that, but that he could not execute the work 
before Christmas. The prisoner urged him to do it before 
that date, and promised to give him five shillings extra if he 
did. Some of the forms were ready before Christmas-day, 
and were delivered to the prisoner. Afterwards he printed 
some forms with the word “ second ” and with the figure “ 2 ” 
upon. them. He saw the prisoner early in January, when he 
ordered him to print a few copies. He next gave him orders 
to engrave some names of places on separate slips of copper, 
namely, Cairo, Bombay, Hong Kong, Valparaiso, Yokohama, 
and Alexandria. Some of them were afterwards inserted in 
bill forms. He also engraved for him the names of the 
Union Bank of London, and the London and Westminster 
Bank, and printed them in the body of the bills. On one 
occasion he brought him four plates with ornamental scrolls 
upon them, and the prisoner selected other scrolls from his 
pattern-book. He put impressions of some of those scrolls 
upon the bill forms. He also engraved for the prisoner two 
plates of bill forms, and made impressions of them. In the 
center of the scrolls he printed the names respectively of H. 
C. Streeter, T. Perkins, D. B. Howell, and Juan Perez, which 
were inserted in the bills. Witness made a mistake in spell¬ 
ing the name “Juan Perez,” upon which the prisoner was very 
cross, and the work had to be done over again. The last time 
he saw him was on the 22d and 23d of February. On an aver¬ 
age he used to see him twice a week. He told witness he was 
getting up samples of bills of exchange. On the last occasion 
he took away all the bill forms and plates, with the exception 
of four scroll blocks, which he left behind by accident. He 
asked witness to show him how to erase the bills from the 


23 


354 THE JURY TO ATTEND DIVINE SERVICE. 

plates, and witness did so, remarking after the operation that 
he could not produce another impression of that same bill if 
he paid him £100 for doing so. No suspicion was excited at 
any time. He did about one hundred copies. Witness was 
shown twenty-three of the forged bills, upon which he identi¬ 
fied impressions of the various stamps he made for the prisoner. 
He also said they were all written on blank forms supplied by 
him. The bills were as follows: one for £2,500, dated Ham¬ 
burg, December 26th, drawn by Oppenheim & Co., and pur¬ 
porting to be accepted by the London and Westminster Bank; 
one for £143 9s. 6c?., and two for £1,000 each, dated Cairo, 
December 80th, drawn by T. Perkins, and accepted at the 
Bank of Belgium and Holland; three for £1,Q00 each, dated 
Valparaiso, December 18th, drawn by H. C. Streeter, and 
accepted by the London and Westminster Bank; three for 
£1,000 each, dated Yokohama, December 18th, drawn by 
D. R. Howell, and accepted by the London and Westminster 
Bank; one for £2,000, another for £1,500, and a third for 
£1,000, dated Valparaiso, November 18th, drawn by H. C. 
Streeter, and accepted by the London and Westminster Bank; 
seven for £1,000 each, dated Bombay, January 16th, drawn 
by Juan Perez, and accepted by the Union Bank of London; 
and three for £1,000 each, dated Valparaiso, December 28th, 
drawn by H. C. Streeter, and accepted by the London and 
Westminster Bank. When the bills left his hands they were 
all blank, and were just as Messrs. Waterlow or any other 
firm might show their customers as specimens. 

At this stage the trial was adjourned until Monday morn¬ 
ing, at ten o’clock, Mr. Justice Archibald observing that he 
was sorry the jury had to be detained over a Sunday. The 
foreman expressed a hope that they might be allowed to 
attend divine service together, and the judge said there was 
no objection to that if it could be arranged. The jury were 
then taken as before to the City Terminus Hotel in Cannon 
Street. 


Chapter XXXIV. 


THE TRIAL CONTINUED — SEVENTH DAY, MONDAY, AUGUST 25TH—WILLIAM 
aflTCHELL, DIE-SINKER AND STAMP-CUTTER, BELL ALLEY, CROSS-EXAMINED 
BY GEORGE BID WELL — MR. GEORGE BOOLE CHALONER, MASTER PRINTER, 
TESTIFIES — WILLIAM CHESHIRE, ENGRAVER, PATERNOSTER ROW, DOES FANCY- 
WORK FOE GEORGE BIDWELL — OTHER WITNESSES CROSS-EXAMINED BY GEORGE 
BIDWELL—JAMES DALTON, A DEAF AND DUMB ENGRAVER, IS EXAMINED — 
THE BIDWELL COAT-OF-ARMS—A POLICE CONSTABLE AND A LONDON DETECT¬ 
IVE SERGEANT IN THE WITNESS BOX—A SCOTCH BOARDING-HOUSE MISTRESS 
RECOGNIZES—MORE DETECTIVE TESTIMONY — A GLASGOW FELLOW-PASSENGER 
ON THE “LUCITANIA”—MR. CHARLES CHABOT, THE EXPERT IN HANDWRITING, 
TESTIFIES — ANOTHER HOTEL-WAITER GIVES EVIDENCE. 



HE case for the prosecution was resumed on Monday 


JL morning. The interest of the public continued un¬ 
abated, and there was no standing-room unoccupied. 

William Mitchell, a die-sinker and stamp-cutter in Bell 
Alley, Moorgate Street, was called. He said he remembered 
the prisoner, George Bidwell, coming to his shop in November 
last, and giving an order for an endorsement-stamp. On the 
bill produced for £1,000 there was an impression from the 
die which he cut for the prisoner. Being cross-examined by 
the prisoner, George Bidwell, in the temporary absence of his 
counsel, the witness gave reasons for believing the stamp on 
the bill was that from the die he cut for him, and that Bid- 
well was the man who brought him the order. The man had 
then no whiskers, but he had a mustache. The words were 
cut in very ordinary block letters, and there were similar 
letters in type. He had very little doubt that the words in 
question could be printed in ordinary type, but it was impos¬ 
sible to fit up words of the same dimensions, having regard 
to the relative distances, in the same way witness’s stamp was 
fitted up. Supposing the stamp had been lost, another could 


( 355 ) 



356 


TWO SHILLINGS ON ACCOUNT. 


have been made, but the engraver would have required some¬ 
thing to guide him as to the relative distances of the letters. 

Mr. George Boole Chaloner, one of the late firm of Nelson 
<fc Co., of Oxford Arms-Passage, Paternoster Row, said he 
knew the prisoner, George Bidwell. He first saw him on the 
9th of December last. The prisoner then called and gave 



BANK-NOTE STORE-ROOM, BANK OF ENGLAND. 


him, without any name, an order for an electro-plate to be 
copied from a paper he produced. Witness was ordered to 
set it up in tpye, from which an electro-plate was to be made. 
The prisoner gave no name or address, but paid two shillings 
on account. Nothing further passed on that occasion. Wit¬ 
ness afterwards executed the order, mounted the plate on a 













TESTIMONY OF A TYPO. 357 

piece of wood, and then took a proof from it. In correcting 
the proof he made an alteration of a single letter. A few 
days afterwards the prisoner, George Bidwell, called for the 
stamp, and witness gave it to him, with some printing-ink, for 
which he asked, and some brass rules from which lines could 
be printed. Witness did not then know the prisoner’s name 
or address. He saw him again on January 28th, when he 
brought witness four forms of bills of exchange, which he 
wished to be imitated as nearly as possible with type which 
he selected. This was executed, and fifty copies of it were 
printed, the bill forms being left with witness meanwhile. 
One of them was headed “ Calais,” and that was executed. 
The prisoner had corrected the proof of that one, after which 
a few impressions were taken. He selected six scrolls from 
a specimen-book, and took four of them away. The prisoner 
called at various times until nearly the end of February. In 
December witness had a conversation with him about lithog¬ 
raphy. The prisoner produced some lithograph forms of 
bills, and asked witness if he knew any lithographer in the 
neighborhood. Witness, in reply, mentioned the name of 
Straker of Ivy Lane. On January 28th the prisoner paid a 
sovereign on account, and gave the name J. R. Nelson, add¬ 
ing that he was staying at Brighton. Witness being now 
shown a batch of forged bills, said he found on them all an 
impression of the German endorsement-stamp he had cut for 
George Bidwell. (Mr. Poland said that included the bill 
mentioned in the indictment.) The. device in the corner of 
one of the forged bills produced, witness said was printed 
from an impression of the bill forms he had set up for the 
prisoner. It was a bill for <£900, drawn at Amsterdam, in 
January last. Being cross-examined by the prisoner, George 
Bidwell, witness said his place of business was not far from 
Straker’s, in Ivy Lane, and that he (Bidwell) was the man 
who gave the name of Nelson. Witness did not see him at 
Straker’s. He next saw him (Bidwell) at the Mansion House, 
as he was being put to the bar of the justice-room. The 


358 THE finger alphabet employed. 

impressions on the forged bills were so like those of the plate 
ones made for the prisoner that even a mistake was imitated, 
if it was an imitation. They appeared to be impressions from 
the type which witness set up. The mistake was in German, 
and witness, not being acquainted with German, did not per¬ 
ceive it at the time. The form was set up in type, the like of 
which could have been procured from any other printing-office. 

William Cheshire, an engraver in Paternoster Row, said 
he knew the prisoner, George Bidwell, and saw him at his 
shop between December and February. He came in Decem¬ 
ber, and gave an order for some lettering for the names of 
various Continental towns, and wished them done in fancy 
type, including Amsterdam, Lubeck, Bremen, Hamburg, Ber¬ 
lin, and others. A drawing was prepared with that view, and 
submitted to George Bidwell. Witness afterwards executed 
it, and Bidwell called and took the blocks away, paying for 
them, and giving the name “ Bohn.” Witness did other work 
for the prisoner, and now produced twenty-five impressions 
from the stamps he cut for him. In cross-examination wit¬ 
ness said any other engraver could have executed similar 
work with perhaps few small differences. Replying to ques¬ 
tions by George Bidwell, he said he first saw him (Bidwell) 
after his arrest at a cell in the Mansion House. The pris¬ 
oner was first brought from his cell and shown him, he being 
asked to take off his cap, and no other prisoner being present. 
Witness said he recognized him in a moment, though he 
looked ill, and his appearance was changed. That was about 
four months after having first seen him. He had not the 
smallest doubt the prisoner, George Bidwell, was the man. 

Mr. James Dalton was next called. He was quite deaf 
and partly dumb, and had in consequence to be examined 
through an interpreter by the aid of the finger alphabet. He 
was an engraver and wood-cutter at 21 Paternoster Row, of the 
firm of Carter & Dalton. During last November he first saw 
the prisoner, George Bidwell. On the 4th of December the 
(prisoner called and showed him two pieces of paper with 


TE CHNICALITIES. 


859 


scrolls on them. On December Tth he gave witness an order 
to print the words “London and Westminster Bank,” and for 
some Dutch lettering. On the 9th he had an order from him 
for the words “ Hamburg Banking Co.,” and “ Paid ”; and 
he identified a forged bill, part of which he said was printed 
from one of his blocks. On the 6th of January he received 
an order for an acceptance block in the name of “ Smith, 
Payne & Smiths,” and he identified a proof taken from the 
block which he had executed for George Bidwell. From time 
to time, he said, George Bidwell gave him pieces of paper 
from which he was to print. The prisoner, when he called, 
communicated with the witness by writing on slips of paper, 
and the witness produced some of the original writing from 
which he had to engrave. The prisoner took some pains, on 
his visits, to make witness understand the German lettering. 
He gave one order on December 7th, which witness handed 
to another person to execute, because it was in Dutch letter¬ 
ing. Witness put in an authentic list of the work he did, 
from which it appeared that each of the forged bills had upon 
it some of the work he had done for the prisoner. WifSiess, 
in cross-examination, said he could fix the dates on which the 
work was done by him for the prisoner. The order, “ London 
and Westminster Bank,” he said was given on the 7th Decem¬ 
ber. He pointed out peculiarities in the forged bills by which 
he identified work he had executed for the prisoner, and 
explained that it ought to have been done in brass instead 
of wood, in which he was asked to do it, for in brass, he said, 
the lettering would have been sharper and more defined. He 
said he cut a great many dates and numbers, running through 
a month, but they were all separate. Witness went into other 
details in answer to questions, but they were mostly technical 
and uninteresting. Replying to Mr. Giffard, witness recog¬ 
nized the order in writing he gave to Mr. Evans, another 
engraver, to be executed for him. It was of a technical 
nature. 

Mr. George Henry Evans, a wood engraver at Newport 


360 


HERALDRY. 


Farringdon Street, was called, and recognized the written 
order Mr. Dalton gave him for some work on December 
7th, and he produced a proof impression from one of the 
blocks he cut for him. Being shown some of the forged 
bills, he said he recognized the impression of an endorse¬ 
ment made from the engraving he cut. 

Mr. George E. Russell proved that in September last, he 
was in the employ of Messrs. Wyon, engravers. He remem¬ 
bered the prisoner George Bidwell coming to them at the 
latter end of August, and giving an order for some address 
cards in name “ George Bidwell.” He afterward brought 
a seal to be engraved with a monogram and a coat-of-arms. 
He had asked witness to look into an heraldic work for the 
name “ Bidwell.” Witness found several persons of that 
name, and the prisoner selected the arms of one which he 
instructed him to engrave on the seal, and also to make a 
painting on vellum. He gave two addresses, one being No. 1 
Langham Street, and the other, Hotel de l’Europe, Havre. 
Witness afterward received a letter from him abroad, dated 
December 13th, from the Grand hotel de Paris, Trouville, 
requesting him to send the seal there. The seal was engraved 
with the monogram on the one side, and the coat of arms on 
the other, and he sent them to him in a registered letter, 
receiving afterwards, a written acknowledgment from him. 

Jonathan Pope, a city police constable, proved that on the 
first of March, the prisoner Noyes was given into his custody 
at the Continental Bank in Lombard Street, and that he found 
on him at the police station a check for <£100 on that bank 
(drawn by C. J. Horton, payable to self or order, and endorsed 
by Horton), £110 in bank-notes, and a case containing papers 
which he afterwards handed to Sergeant Spittle. The pris¬ 
oner was transacting business at the time at the counter of the 
bank, and his first exclamation was that witness had no right 
to take him without a warrant. 

John Spittle, a city detective sergeant, proved that he told 
the prisoner Noyes, on the day of his arrest, that he had given 


OF FRENCH PARENTAGE. 


861 


an address at Durant’s Hotel, although he had left that hotel 
three weeks ago. The prisoner afterwards said that he had 
no settled address. He added, if he had an opportunity, that 
he might find Horton. He was eventually charged and exam¬ 
ined before the Lord Mayor, when he explained that the rea¬ 
son for giving his address Durant’s Hotel was that Horton 
had told him to go back there. Witness then spoke of having, 
with Sergeant Smith, brought the prisoner George Bidwell to 
London from Edinburgh, after he had been arrested there by 
the deceased witness M’Kelvie. On being asked if he were a 
naturalized American, he begged to be excused answering the 
question, and it was not pressed. At the police station in Lon¬ 
don, on being asked his name, he said he would rather not give 
it at that time. He gave an address in Cumberland Street, 
Edinburgh, but without any number. Witness produced copies 
of the daily Telegraph , from the 6th to the 11th of January 
last, containing an advertisement of Noyes for a situation of 
trust or partnership, “ in a light business, and requiring a 
capital of not more than £300.” Witness in cross-examina¬ 
tion by Mr. Ribton, produced a bundle of letters addressed to 
the prisoner Noyes in reply to that advertisement. In re-ex¬ 
amination, he produced several envelopes and letters which he 
had found on Noyes, some of them addressed, Terminus Hotel, 
London, Room No. 6, some addressed Durant’s Hotel, Man¬ 
chester Square. 

Mrs. Ann Laverock, of 22 Cumberland Street, London, 
recognized the prisoner George Bidwell as a person to whom 
she let lodgings on the 11th of March last, he giving the name 
of Coutant. He brought a portmanteau, and said he had 
come from Rotterdam, and had been seasick on crossing. 
She asked if he were a Frenchman. He answered in the neg¬ 
ative, but said that his parents were French. He staid in her 
house till the 2d of April. 

David Ferguson, a detective police officer in Edinburgh, 
proved that he searched George Bidwell’s lodgings there after 
his arrest, and found, among other things, a letter which he 


362 


AN EXPERT BLUNDERER. 


handed over to the police authorities. He also found on his 
person a quantity of jewelry, diamonds, and a sum of money. 

Michael Hayden, a city detective sergeant, deposed that he 
went to Havana about the 13tli of April, and saw the prisoner 
Austin Bidwell there. He was subsequently given into the 
charge of witness and Sergeant Green, and brought to Eng¬ 
land. He found on him six American bonds for $1,000 each, 
two for $500 each, one for $100, and some money and jew¬ 
elry. Before he went to Havana, witness searched McDon¬ 
ald’s luggage, and found a letter to him from Austin Bidwell. 

Mr. Sam. Wilson Robinson, said that he lived in Glas¬ 
gow, and in the course of May, 1872, he took a voyage to 
South America, in the steamer Lucitania. The prisoner 
George Bidwell was among his fellow passengers. 

Mr. Charles Chabot, the expert, said that he had examined 
several documents proved to be in the handwriting of Austin 
Bidwell, including his name in the signature books of the 
Western Branch of the Bank of England, and the Continental 
Bank,, various credit slips, and several letters to Col. Francis. 
Taking into his hand the forged bill upon which the present 
indictment is framed, and other bills, he said the indorse¬ 
ments “F. A. Warren” upon them were in the same hand¬ 
writing. The letters found in McDonald’s luggage and signed 
“ Austin ” were also written by him. The signatures to the 
checks “ F. A. Warren ” and “ C. J. Horton ” were undoubt¬ 
edly in his handwriting. [A fine “ expert ” ! I wrote all 
those signatures of Warren and Horton myself, except one. 
— G. B.] He had also looked at some insurance slips, and a 
receipt for a check given by Messrs. Morgan & Co., which had 
been proved to be in McDonald’s handwriting. He believed 
the body of the bill for <£1,000 (the subject of indictment), 
and the signature to it, “ H. C. Streeter,” and the letter to 
Mr. de Wael, a banker in Holland, signed “ F. A. Warren,” 
and dated November 30, 1872, were written by McDon¬ 
ald. He had likewise seen a large number of letters writ¬ 
ten by George Bidwell, admitted to be in his handwriting. 


MR. PYE CASHES A CHECK. 


363 


The signature “ H. J. Spaulding,” to one of the bills, was with¬ 
out doubt written by the same person, as was also the filling 
up of two forged bills on the Bank of Belgium and Holland. 
The letters to Col. Francis, dated from Birmingham, between 
the 24th of January and the 27th of February last, purporting 
to come from F. A. Warren, and containing most of the forged 
bills, were all written by George Bidwell. The same observa¬ 
tion applied to the body of the checks on the Western Branch 
of the Bank of England, while the indorsements to those 
checks were for the most part in the handwriting of George 
McDonald. He had also examined various letters to different 
persons in America, and he believed that they were all writ¬ 
ten by George Bidwell. Looking at the credit-slips in the 
Continental Bank, signed by Noyes on behalf of C. J. Horton, 
the agreement proved to have been executed by him, and a 
letter signed “ Ed.”, enclosing a draft for £1,000 to a relative 
in America, he expressed his conviction that they were all in 
the handwriting of Noyes, as were also the bodies of the vari¬ 
ous checks on the Continental Bank. The telegram from 
“ Spaulding, Langham Hotel,” to “ Edward H Clarendon 
Hotel, New York,” was in George Bidwell’s handwriting, and 
that from George McDonald to “ E. N. H St. Denis Hotel, 
New York,” was in that of McDonald’s. Replying to McIn¬ 
tyre, the witness said he had had no assistance from other 
experts in making that investigation. He believed all the 
signatures to the checks of the Western Branch of the Bank 
of England had been written by Warren (A. B.) at one sit¬ 
ting. He had seen altogether about one hundred and forty 
bills all bearing the indorsement “F. A. Warren.” Some of 
those indorsements were in Austin Bidwell’s handwriting, but 
the great majority of them were not. The signatures “ C. J. 
Horton ” to the checks on the Continental Bank were all in 
the handwriting of Austin Bidwell, and were, he should say, 
written at one time. [I wrote them myself.— G. B.] 

Mr. Chas. Anthony Pye, a clerk in the Western Branch, 
proved that on the 17th of January last, he cashed a check for 


364 


NO SIGN OF BUSINESS. 


£1,500, signed by “ F. A. Warren,” across the counter, giving 
in exchange ten notes for £100 each, and one for £500. 
(Some of these notes were afterwards changed into foreign 
money at Messrs. Baum’s by George Bidwell.) 

Peter Steinmayer, a waiter at the Cannon Street Hotel, 
deposed that he recognized the prisoner Noyes, who occupied 
a room there from January 80th to February 28th. He knew 
him by the name of Horton. He used to come three or four 
times a week in the middle of the day, and stay on each occa¬ 
sion about half an hour. No books were kept in the room, 
and there was no sign of any business being transacted. Mr. 
Giffard, Q. C., said that would be the case for the prosecution. 
At this point, the court having sat seven hours, the trial was 
adjourned until next day. The jury as before, was taken to 
the City Terminus Hotel. 



\ 



* 


Chapter XXXV. 

✓ 


THE TRIAL CONTINUED — EIGHTH AND LAST DAY, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26TH — AN 
AFFECTING LETTER — NOYES TRIES TO SAVE THE OLD HOMESTEAD — HE LIKES 
TO STAY IN EUROPE!—A LETTER OF CONDOLENCE — MY LETTERS FROM ED¬ 
INBURGH— THE CASE FOR THE PROSECUTION CLOSED — MR. METCALF, 
Q. C., TAKES A FORMAL OBJECTION, WHICH IS OVERRULED—MR. GIFFARD, 
Q. C., SUMS UP THE EVIDENCE ON THE PART OF THE PROSECUTION — MCDON¬ 
ALD’S STATEMENT TO THE JURY—GEORGE BIDWELL’S REMARKS CUT SHORT 
BY JUDGE ARCHIBALD—MR. McINTIRE’S PLEA FOR AUSTIN BIDWELL — MR. 
RIBTON ADDRESSES THE JURY ON BEHALF OF NOYES — JUDGE ARCHIBALD 
SUMS UP — JURY RETIRES — BRING IN A VERDICT OF “GUILTY”—AUSTIN BID- 
WELL EXONERATES THE BANK MANAGER — LAST APPEAL OF THE PRISONERS — 
SENTENCED FOR LIFE. 


HIS was the most interesting day in a trial of unprece- 



JL dented interest. The court-room of the Old Bailey 
was packed, and, as on other occasions, the lobbies were 
filled and a crowd in the street waiting in the hope of eventu¬ 
ally obtaining admission. Many of the nobility and gentry 
were present. 

Mr. Giffard, Q. C., put in several letters written by the 
prisoners, and they were read by Mr. Read, the deputy clerk 
of arraigns. The first was written by Noyes to a brother in 
America, enclosing a letter of credit for £1,000 obtained by 
him on January 29th from Messrs. Baring Brothers: 


London, January 29, 1873. 


Dear Brother J-, — I have this day registered a letter to 

you containing £1,000 sterling, which you will collect to the best 
advantage. The bankers will charge from one-eighth to one-quarter 
per cent, for collection. There is a premium on London Exchange. 
Before collecting it post yourself as to exchange, so that they will 
not charge you exorbitant rates. On it you will get two premiums 
— that on London, and the difference between the value of gold and 


( 365 ) 




366 


THE SON AND BROTHER. 


greenbacks. I think it will amount to about $5,500 ; I cannot tell 
exactly, but do the best you can. After you collect it carry $1,400 

over to C- to pay S- $750; he will also pay that bond 

of $600 that father owes H-K-for that woodland. The 

bond is indorsed by J-McL-, so you will see that K-will 

sicken at the prospect of getting a hold of our homestead. The 
bond in Pratt Street let remain until my return. Take $250 
yourself, to buy your wife a $150 sewing machine and other things 
as a present from me. Do not let anyone else know but that you 
bought them yourself. Also, deduct your expenses to go to Spring- 

field and out home. Also, hand Robert C-$50 if he should want 

it as a loan. Take a receipt for it, to be paid to father when conven¬ 
ient, if I am not at home. The balance you may place to my 
account in the First National Bank of Hartford, subject to be 
drawn by my sister in case of accident to me, or death, or a longer 
absence than six months. Make it draw interest, if they will not 

give interest, put it into the iEtna Bank. H-will introduce you. 

I am trying to persuade a friend of mine, an English gentleman, to 
go to America and enter business. If I succeed it will perhaps 
throw us together. It is not certain when I shall return to Amer¬ 
ica. These Englishmen are such sticklers for country it is hard to 
start them. I confess that I am beginning to like to stay in Eu¬ 
rope. [Poor fellow! He is staying abroad longer than he likes.— 
G. B.] More anon. Yours ever, Ed. 

The following letters were written by George Bidwell shortly 
after his escape from Ireland, while in hiding at Edinburgh: 

Edinburgh, March 13, 1873. 

Dear M., — Your friend has had a series of the most extraor¬ 
dinary adventures since you saw him; a hell’s chase, and no mis¬ 
take. His nerve has stood him through two taps on shoulder and 
several encounters with detectives. He has been a Fenian, a priest, 
a professor, a Frenchman, a German, a Russian, who could speak 
only a 11 veree leetle Englese, mais un peu de Franyais et Allemand,” 
and a deaf and dumb man with a slate and pencil — all in the space 
of a week. 

March 18. 

It made me nearly sick to read what I enclose. [Alluding to 
what I saw in the papers, showing how our real names had trans- 










THE LAST WITNESS. 


367 

pired, through my plans in the way of precautions not haying been 
executed as I all along supposed.—G-. B.] It is all right as long as 
I keep inland, but the moment I touch the borders there is the 
devil to pay. I ran through an awful gauntlet last week in Ireland. 
Who would have dreamed they could have got on track so soon as 
that! There was a job put up from Hastings, and I had a hard rub 
at Cx [meaning Charing Cross]. I am delaying, as every day 
changes my appearance. Of course it is impossible to say what 
move or when 1 shall make one, but my present opinion is that I 
shall be in London when this reaches you. The telegraph, and I 
suspect the post also, is an open book for these parties. I suppose 
they have procured special permit. Therefore, do not on any 
account use the telegraph. 

Mr. Albert Gearing, proprietor of the Terminus Hotel, 
London Bridge, who was called at the request of Mr. Ribton, 
proved that the prisoner, Austin Bidwell, in the name of C. J. 
Horton, hired on the 11th of January last a sitting-room in 
his hotel, and that he subsequently introduced the prisoner 
Noyes as his clerk. The room was kept until February 21st. 

That was the case for the prosecution. A formal objection 
was taken by Mr. Metcalf, Q. C., on the part of McDonald, that 
it had not been proved, in conformity with the Extradition 
Act, that the crime with which he was now charged was that 
for which his surrender was obtained in America, but it was 
overruled by the judge. 

Mr. Giffard, Q. C., then summed up the evidence adduced 
on the part of the prosecution. He said he was entitled, 
under recent statute, to elicit from his learned friends on the 
other side, whether they intended to call witnesses or not, 
and they having informed him that they were not about to 
present any further evidence to the jury, it became his duty 
to close, with a few remarks, the case which he had presented 
to their decision. It was clear as a matter of law that if the 
particular bill which they were now discussing was forged 
and uttered in pursuance of a common design and scheme 
participated in by all the prisoners, all of them were equally 
guilty, though only one of them actually traced the signature 


368 


APOLOGY FOR COLONEL FRANCIS. 


upon it. The question, therefore, for the jury was whether 
all or any of the prisoners had participated in a design to forge 
and utter that among a great many other bills. Although 
the unity of design comprised, as he urged, the whole of the 
prisoners, yet the evidence applicable to each was, however, 
identical, for they were all tainted with the same guilty 
design. A scheme of this character and magnitude was hap¬ 
pily very rare, if not quite unknown, in this country; for it 
was incredible that persons like the prisoners should have 
sought to taint the whole currency of commerce in this coun¬ 
try by a portentous crime of this nature. The bank author¬ 
ities had been twitted for being so easily led into a net of that 
kind, but let the jury consider what were the circumstances in 
which Colonel Francis, the manager of the Western Branch, 
was placed. His customer was a person who pretended to be 
conducting large commercial transactions in this country and 
all over the Continent, and his bills were of the highest pos¬ 
sible character, and were discounted and paid with facility. 
If there had been ever any genuine business transacted by 
the prisoner, Austin Bidwell, let him call witness to prove it; 
but in the absence of such proof, he denounced that business 
as one for the mere manufacture of forged bills, and a device 
to dispose of proceeds. Genuine bills to the amount of be¬ 
tween <£8,000 and £9,000 were first of all discounted by the 
Bank of England, and these bills, it had been proved, were 
purchased on the Continent by one or other of the prisoners. 
They not only established the credit of Warren at the bank, 
but they served as the models for the forged bills which were 
subsequently sent in. In the forged bill in question, the form 
upon which it was written, and the various stamps on its sur¬ 
face, were purchased by George Bidwell. It was filled in and 
signed by McDonald, and it bore the endorsement of Austin 
Bidwell [Austin was out of England, and did not put on the 
endorsement.—G. B.], to whose credit the amount of the 
discount was placed. It was therefore shown in this one 
instance alone that three of the prisoners had been concerned 


PREPARING FOR EXAMINATION BY MEDICAL OFFICER 















































































































































































































































THE JURY CAUTIONED. 


B69 


in forging and uttering the bill. £65,000 (about $325,000) 
had been expended by Noyes in the purchase of American 
bonds, and £10,000 by McDonald, and the rest of the money 
had gone in other directions — the whole of it having first been 
withdrawn from the Western Branch, then paid into Horton’s 
account at the Continental Bank, and subsequently changed 
from gold into notes, and vice versa. The examination of the 
witnesses had proved that Austin Bid well had left England 
about the 18th of January, but though absent he was never¬ 
theless engaged in the fraud, for he was found purchasing 
bills on the Continent, which served as models for other 
forged bills. [No bills purchased by him after January 18th 
served as models for forged bills. I supposing him to be on 
his way home, made it necessary that his continued presence 
on the Continent should be concealed from me. It was his 
engagement which caused him to remain in Europe. — G. B.] 
As to George Bidwell, it was proved beyond question that he 
had procured variops stamps and plates from five different 
engravers, and that all those stamps appeared on the whole 
of the forged acceptances, and that he had written from Bir¬ 
mingham the letters to Col. Francis enclosing bills, many of 
which bore his endorsement. McDonald had been also shown 
to have filled in the bill forms, and forged the names of the 
drawers and acceptors. Mr. Giffard then referred to the case 
of the prisoner Noyes, urging that, so far from being an inno¬ 
cent clerk, as was alleged, he was one of the most active par¬ 
ticipators in the fraud, and that, like the others, he shared in 
the proceeds. In conclusion, he advised the jury to receive 
with great caution any statement which the prisoners, or any 
one of them, might make as to the innocence or guilt of the 
rest, observing that it would not be under oath, and that the 
person making it would not be exposed to any cross-examina¬ 
tion, and could not be interrogated by the court. [David 
Howell, our solicitor, informed the prosecution of the subject 
on which McDonald and myself were intending to address 
the court and jury, thus enabling Mr. Giffard to forestall and, 
24 


870 


MAC'S PLEA FOR AUSTIN. 

I 

frustrate any effects our subsequent statement of facts might 
have had in favor of my brother and Noyes. — G. B.] He 
asked the jury to say by their verdict that all the prisoners 
had been engaged in one common design to commit a crime, 
the magnitude of which was almost unexampled in the history 
of this country. 

Mr. Metcalf, Q. C., addressing the court, said he had 
attended very carefully to the whole case on the part of 
McDonald, together with the summing up for the prosecution, 
and he did not think it would be attended with any good 
effect for him to address the jury. More than that, McDon¬ 
ald himself desired to make a statement with the consent of 
the Bench. Mr. Besley made a similar announcement on the 
part of the prisoner George Bidwell. The prisoner George 
McDonald then proceeded to address the jury, and the whole 
audience listened with deep attention. He said: 

The statement I have to make to you, gentlemen of the jury, 
was alluded to towards the end of Mr. Giffard’s speech, and from 
what he said, I perceive he has been informed or conceived 
some idea himself as to what it was my intention to say. 
He tells you that any statement which I can make to you is 
not evidence, and can be received by you only with great cau¬ 
tion. I do not attempt to deny that, but nevertheless, I think 
that my statement will be supported by the testimony which 
the prosecution has elicited, and that it will merit at least a 
very careful consideration at your hands. I can easily con¬ 
cede that it would be very difficult in my case to make any 
difference whatever, but as I believe that no person is in a 
position to give a more accurate or faithful account of this 
whole business than I am, I propose to show you, that in the 
case of one person at least, if I cannot show it by direct evi¬ 
dence, it is certainly worthy of considerable attention—I 
mean the very great probability of Austin Bidwell’s entire 
innocence in the actual fraud. My only reason for making 
this statement is that the truth may be known in regard to 
him, for I am well aware that every word I am saying to 


FLATTERING TO AMERICAN ABILITY. 37 ^ 

you now cuts from under my feet any hope that I may have 
entertained for myself. It seems to be the idea of the prose¬ 
cution— an idea which they have endeavored by every means 
in their power to bring you to believe — Mr. Justice Archi¬ 
bald, interposing said : “As I understand you to say that 
what you are now saying cuts away the ground of any 
defense from under your own feet, I can only allow you 
to address the court and jury on your own behalf, and not 
on behalf of any other person. I do not know to whom you 
are alluding, but each of the prisoners are represented by 
counsel, and if you propose to address the jury on behalf 
of any other person beside yourself, I cannot allow you.’ , 

McDonald: I have not the audacity, my lord, to appear as 
counsel for any other of the prisoners. What I intend to say, 
is simply a statement of facts. 

The Judge: You can urge anything on your own behalf. 

McDonald: It is on my own behalf, but it is perfectly 
impossible to make the statement I am about to make without 
referring to the others. I was saying that the idea of the 
prosecution, which they have endeavored to inforce on your 
conviction, is that the original intention with which Austin 
Bidwell, George Bidwell, and myself, came over to this coun¬ 
try was to perpetrate this fraud on the Bank of England. 1 
think if that idea could be entertained it would argue for us a 
knowledge and a prescience something more than men of ordi¬ 
nary ability and attainments could pretend to. It would sup¬ 
pose that we were perfectly acquainted with the mode of doing 
business in England, that we knew some person or other who 
had an account with the Bank of England, that we could by 
some well-devised plan get sufficiently into the confidence of 
that person to obtain from him an introduction to the Bank of 
England, and that all the other minor details, which have 
been so fully explained in the course of this investigation, 
would all work together for our benefit, would all turn out 
precisely as we desired, and that in fact, nothing at all would 
interfere to prevent the carrying out of the fraud. When we 


CIRCUMSTANCES , AGAIN. 


372 

first came to England, it was certainly with no such intention. 
Mr. Green, of Saville Row, has told you that the opening of 
the account with the Western Branch of the Bank of England 
was an entird accident, and so it was. That was done on May 
4th, and on May 28th we three left England. We left Eng¬ 
land without the slightest intention of returning. Circum¬ 
stances occurred to induce us to change our plans, and we 
came back two months later. There is no doubt but that the 
intention was to close the account with the Bank of England, 
because it was of no use. But when we came back to Eng¬ 
land it was of considerable use and advantage to us to cash 
any bills that might come to us. 

We went from England to the Continent, and our inten¬ 
tion, while there, was to do certain business between Vienna 
and Frankfort-on-the-Main. Circumstances arose while we 
were at Vienna to prevent that business. In the meantime 
I was taken very seriously ill, and returned to England for 
the benefit of medical advice. George Bidwell was in Amster¬ 
dam, and he sent me a bill drawn on Baring Bros., which I got 
cashed myself, by which I saw that the manner of doing busi¬ 
ness was entirely different than in America. 

As soon as I saw how business was transacted, I sent a 
telegram from the station next adjoining the Alexandria 
Hotel, to George Bidwell, in Amsterdam, and I stated in 
that telegram that I had made a great discovery. That tele¬ 
gram, I dare say, could be found, but as it would tend to show 
that the fraud could not have been contemplated so early in 
the transaction, it has not been brought forward. In Amer¬ 
ica, when bills are presented at a bank for discount, or when 
acceptances are presented, it is the custom to send them 
round to the persons accepting, to be what is technically 
called “ initialed,” in order that their validity and genuine¬ 
ness may be certified. I found that was not the case here, 
and the result of the discovery is, that I am standing before 
you to-day. 

Mr. Pinto, from Amsterdam, has told you that George 



AUSTIN’S WITHDRAWAL. 


373 

Bidwell purchased bills drawn from Amsterdam upon Ham¬ 
burg, which bills a day or two afterwards were sold again, and 
others drawn upon London purchased with the proceeds, and 
the bills so obtained were afterwards discounted by F. A. 
Warren. The matter went on in that way for some time, 
until the 11th or 12th of January Austin Bidwell went over 
to Paris to buy the bill on Messrs. Rothschild which has been 
so much commented upon — that for <£4,500. During this 
voyage or journey to Paris, he met with a very severe railroad 
accident, in which one man certainly was killed outright, and 
I think two or three more, and Austin Bidwell had probably 
as narrow an escape from being smashed to pieces as any 
man ever did. On arriving in London he was in such a con¬ 
dition that it was almost impossible for him to move. He 
was taken to a hotel and visited by a physician, Doctor Coul- 
son, who told him he was in very great danger of being par¬ 
alyzed for life. On January 17th, when Austin Bidwell took 
that bill to the bank, I went with him as far as the door, and 
afterwards helped him back to my quarters. I think on the 
following day the doctor saw him, and Austin Bidwell then 
told him it was his intention to leave England immediately. 
The doctor informed him that if he intended to travel he 
must do so at once. The evidence goes to show that up to 
this time every preparation had been made for the contem¬ 
plated fraud. January 18th was Saturday, and after the 
doctor’s interview with Austin Bidwell, who was then in my 
room, he told me that it was his intention to utterly with¬ 
draw from anything connected with this or any other similar 
matter. You can easily conceive that up to this time a great 
deal of money had been thrown away in continually trans¬ 
ferring the papers. The idea of losing that money and hav¬ 
ing no return for it was very displeasing, but as Austin 
Bidwell was determined to leave, and did, I could only let 
him go. On Dr. Coulson’s advice, Austin Bidwell decided to 
travel at once, and he left with me two checks, one drawn on 
the Western Branch of the Bank of England, and the other on 


374 


HIS PERIL LED TO PENITENCE. 


Harcourts & Co. (Continental Bank), to obtain the balance 
of this account and invest the proceeds in United States 
bonds, which were to be forwarded to him in Paris. These 
two checks were cashed, and the proceeds left in my hands. 
The first forged bill was sent from Birmingham on January 
21st. Mr. Chabot has told you that in his opinion the 
endorsement “ F. A. Warren” on the bills was in his own 
handwriting. It was not. No one knows that better than I 
do. My hand was the one that put the endorsements on the 
forged bills of exchange. 

Mr. Chabot, the expert, also says the checks on which 
the moneys were drawn from the two banks were in Austin 
Bidwell’s handwriting, and were all signed at one sitting. 
Several of them were signed at one sitting — I give that credit 
to Mr. Chabot — but not by Austin Bidwell. I can refer you 
in particular to the check which went to the Western Branch 
of the Bank of England, in which the name of Horton was 
misspelled. It is admitted that Austin Bidwell was then on 
the way to Havana. Mr. Chabot does not state positively 
that these checks were signed by Horton; the Continental 
Bank was perfectly well satisfied that they were signed by 
Horton, and I think the expert in that bank was quite as 
well able to judge as Mr. Chabot whether the signatures were 
genuine. 

Referring again to the accident on the Northern Rail¬ 
way of France — when Austin Bidwell arrived at my quarters 
in London, his first statement to me was this : “ Mac, I have 
had as miraculous an escape from instant death as perhaps 
any man has ever experienced.” He went on to elaborate 
his sentiments during the accident, and wound up by saying 
that so deep an impression had been made on his mind, in 
those few moments of peril, that he should certainly have 
nothing more to do with whatever might affect his personal 
convenience, liberty, and happiness in this world, hut also 
place in jeopardy — according to the view from which he 
looked at it—his eternal happiness. I think, gentlemen of 


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 


375 


the jury, that this is not a far-fetched statement, but is proba¬ 
bly one that will commend itself to your attention as being 
worthy of a great deal of consideration, namely, that a man 
of his age could not have so absolutely and entirely forgotten 
the sentiments implanted in youth as to be indifferent to such 
a warning. For myself I am willing to confess that, proba¬ 
bly from not having gone through such an ordeal myself, 
I gave the matter but little attention for the moment; in 
fact, I laughed at it and at him; but all I could say did not 
change his mind, and on the following morning he left 
England. 

He left everything in confusion, as far as this business 
is concerned, and in a state of unreadiness. When the first 
bills were sent into the bank, the intention only was to recoup 
the loss on the money transactions, and then clear out. But 
when the facility with which they were received and dis¬ 
counted was considered, it was determined to carry the thing 
farther, and to do so it was necessary to get up bills, have 
printing done, and stamps made, and there was very little time 
to do it in. Mr. Giffard, in his address, asked what was the 
object of the account. The object was very plain. I do not 
propose to insult your understandings, gentlemen, by saying 
that a fraud was not contemplated at one time, but you may 
perhaps be inclined to believe that such a statement as I am 
now making is made only with one motive. Does it redound 
to my advantage? does it help to clear me at all? or. do I 
state to you anything that is intrinsically improbable ? I 
think not. I have no doubt Mr. Giffard has had a great deal 
of experience in this sort of business, and I dare say he will 
believe me when I say men engaged in an illegitimate trans¬ 
action do not place very much confidence in each other. And 
if there were an intention, in spite of the withdrawal of one 
party, still to carry out the original scheme, it is not likely 
that party, after having entirely withdrawn, should be in¬ 
trusted with any confidence concerning the scheme. He asks 
who were benefited by it; and if he sifts the matter, I think 


876 


“DECEIVED AND IMPOSED UPON” 


it could be very easily explained. He said it would be very 
difficult to prove any such statement as I am now making, 
which is but the simple truth. 

Since Mr. Chabot first took upon himself the profession of 
an expert, business of this kind, like every other, has made 
very great strides. It has become, as one of the newspapers 
said, an art. 

The Judge : What business do you mean ? 

I mean fraud, and a very wretched, unhappy, miserable, 
and contemptible art — it may be to a certain extent called 
an art, nevertheless. Mr. Chabot would induce you to believe 
that these checks were left signed by Austin Bid well. I am 
unwilling to allow that statement to be left as it was by Mr. 
Chabot on your minds, when you come to meditate on your 
verdict. My only object is to make as much reparation as 
can be done to Austin Bidwell, who, in spite of Mr. Giffard’s 
statement as to its improbability, has been deceived and im¬ 
posed upon, and has had his confidence violated. If I am 
successful in pressing that view of the case upon you, I shall 
have obtained all I can ask for. If I am not I can only regret 
it, but I ask when you go to consider your verdict, to bear in 
mind the statement I have made, to consider whether there 
is anything intrinsically improbable in it, and to say whether 
it is at all likely that I would stand up here and through any 
other motive than the one I have mentioned, make observa* 
tions which must necessarily be prejudicial to myself. That 
is all, gentlemen, I have to say to you. 

[Although I sat by McDonald’s side when he made the 
above statement, I had forgotten what he said about the date 
of the first conception of the fraud and the opening of the 
Warren account at the Bank of England. What I have said 
in relation to those events in Chapter XIII, and elsewhere, 
was written before I had seen his statement in print. It will 
be seen that our accounts agree. — G. B.] 

The prisoner, George Bidwell, addressing the jury, said 
there was much he could have urged in his defense by way of 


AUSTIN'S COUNSEL SPEAKS. 


377 


comment on the evidence; but, notwithstanding that, feeling 
from his sense of guilt in having aided in carrying out the 
forgeries, it had been his intention to throw himself on the 
mercy of the court. With that view he had prepared a state¬ 
ment ; but after what Mr. McDonald had said, it would be 
mere repetition in him to attempt it. He confirmed that 
statement, which he said was the truth and nothing but the 
truth, adding that Noyes was never trusted by them, and 
only did what he w T as told to do. Mr. Justice Archibald, 
interposing, told the prisoner, George Bid well, he must con¬ 
fine himself to his own defense, seeing that Noyes was 
defended by counsel. George Bidwell said he only wished to 
lay the facts before the court. Mr. Justice Archibald said he 
could have pleaded guilty, in which case he might have been 
called as a witness and given his evidence on oath. George 
Bidwell replied that he had not been aware of that. Mr. 
Justice Archibald said he might have been informed of it. 

Mr. McIntyre, Q. C., speaking in behalf of Austin Bidwell, 
said he had to contend that the prosecution had failed to 
substantiate the charge preferred against his client. He 
knew perfectly well that the magnitude of. a crime or the 
seriousness of the consequences of a verdict of guilty w r ould 
never deter an English jury from doing their duty ; but he was 
also sure that they would require in a case of that kind the 
clearest and most indisputable evidence, and failing to obtain 
it, however suspicious the surrounding circumstances might 
be, they would acquit the prisoner. He urged that the evi¬ 
dence was utterly inconsistent with the guilt of Austin Bid- 
well. A great mass of evidence had been placed before them, 
showing the antecedent connection of the prisoners, and a 
vast number of other circumstances, but he challenged them 
to find any proof that, with the bill in question, Austin Bid- 
well forged or uttered it, or was even aware of the forgery. 
They could not convict him unless they actually believed that 
he was concerned in the fabrication of the bill, or that it was 
carried out with his cognizance and connivance. It had been 


378 


A STRONG ARGUMENT. 


clearly proved that some time in 1872 the brothers Bidwell 
and McDonald were living in an obscure neighborhood in 
London, and that on paying a casual visit to Mr..Green, their 
tailor, in Saville Row, Austin Bidwell producing a large 
sum of money requested him to take it and keep it until his 
return from a short journey. Mr. Green hesitated, and upon 
his suggestion he introduced the prisoner, unfortunately for 
him, to the authorities at the Western Branch, who at once 
agreed to open an account with him. He contended that at 
that moment there was no fraudulent design upon the bank, 
and that to the end of the year, and even for some time in 
January the transactions in respect to that account were per¬ 
fectly honest. 

The prisoner left this country on January 18th, three days 
before the first batch of forged bills arrived from Birmingham, 
and from that time his personal connection with the account 
ceased. Mr. McIntyre complained that the bank authorities 
had not thought fit to make any inquiries at the address 
which the prisoner gave in London, and that although pos¬ 
sessing a branch at Birmingham they never instituted any 
investigation as to the solvency or to the position of their cus¬ 
tomer, who represented himself to be living there and from 
whom they were receiving almost daily large batches of bills. 

It is also inconceivable that they should without suspicion 
have dealt so largely with a person who only gave his address 
at the post-office in that town. The prosecution had failed 
to prove that Austin Bidwell was ever at Birmingham in his 
life. It had been admitted by Col. Francis that he at first 
believed all the letters containing the bills to be in Warren’s 
handwriting, and the bills to bear his indorsement, but it has 
since been proved by Mr. Chabot that nearly all those letters 
and indorsements were written by George and not by Austin 
Bidwell. He urged that such was the case in the bill in ques¬ 
tion, and he asked the jury to believe that Austin had never seen 
either of them, he being out of England at the time. It was 
quite clear that Austin Bidwell possessed money of his own, 


MR. RIBTON'S PLEA FOR NOYES. 379 

for before any of the forged bills were discounted, £17,000 
had passed through the bank in respect of his account. It 
was thus that he accounted for the possession of the bonds 
and money found at Havana, and for the circumstances that 
his brother and McDonald sent him other bonds on his jour¬ 
ney thither. It might be that he was willing to join in the 
venture to some extent, but it was clear that after his acci¬ 
dent he changed his mind and had nothing more to do with 
the matter. All the stamps and blocks were purchased after 
he left, and not one of the forged bills was presented while 
he was in the country. In conclusion Mr. McIntyre made an 
earnest appeal to the jury to acquit his client. 

Mr. Ribton followed on behalf of Noyes, observing that 
his case differed entirely from that of any other, and that 
there was not a tittle of evidence which would warrant the 
jury in convicting him. On December 17th Noyes arrived 
in Liverpool from America and w^ent to London, where he 
inserted an advertisement in a newspaper applying for a situ¬ 
ation as a clerk or partner. The result was that he was 
taken into the service of the prisoner, Austin Bidwell, who 
had assumed the name of Horton, and he deposited with him 
as security the sum of £300. A formal agreement was 
entered into on January 11th between the parties, and on the 
same day Horton took an office at the London Bridge Hotel, 
and introduced Noyes as his clerk. From that time to the 
date of his arrest he discharged the duties of his position, and 
these duties had special reference to the paying in or cashing 
of checks on his master’s account at the Continental Bank, 
and the purchase of American securities. 

The jury would recollect that the fraud of the other pris¬ 
oners commenced in May last, when the account at the Bank 
of England was opened—that between May and November 
they were engaged upon the Continent, in purchasing genuine 
bills as models, and that the account of Horton at the Conti¬ 
nental Bank commenced on the 2d of December. All these 
transactions happened, therefore, before Noyes arrived in 


880 


THE JUDGE SUMS UP. 


England, and he had no knowledge of them. He was evi¬ 
dently acquainted with the other prisoners, as it was proved 
that he associated with them directly upon his arrival in 
London, but he was entirely ignorant of any fraud that was 
in contemplation, and so he remained down to the time of 
his arrest. Not a single fact has been proved which would 
lead to the belief that he was concerned in the forgery, 
but throughout the whole transaction he had been the inno¬ 
cent dupe of the othe/ men. He admitted that his client 
had assumed other names than his own but none of them 
had been used to promote the fraudulent scheme. There 
was no evidence to show that Noyes had any knowledge 
of Warren’s account at the Western Branch or that he 
ever saw any of the forged bills, and there was good ground 
for believing he was kept in darkness on all these points. 
The jury might regard him if they chose as an adventurer 
who was anxious to make money, but there was not a scintilla 
of evidence to show that he had ever been connected with the 
forgery. It was perfectly clear that Noyes had been selected 
to perform the part of an innocent assistant. 

Mr. Justice Archibald in summing up said the prisoners 
were indicted for forging and uttering a bill of exchange for 
<£1,000 with intent to defraud. That was the offense charged 
against them, but in the course taken by the prosecution they 
had laid before the jury evidence to show that the prisoners 
were all concerned in a fraudulent scheme for the purpose of 
defrauding the Bank of England. He did not propose to 
minutely go over the evidence adduced in the case, because it 
would doubtless be fresh in the minds of the jury, and espec¬ 
ially after the statements of the prisoners George Bidwell and 
McDonald who had virtually admitted their guilt. McDonald 
had openly confessed his participation in the fraud, and 
George Bidwell had adopted his statement though without 
confessing his guilt. As regards George Bidwell, there was 
no doubt that he Was guilty of forging the bill in question 
and many others. The learned judge then reviewed the evi- 


“ GUILTY.' 


381 


dence with great care, with a view to ascertain for the guid¬ 
ance of the jury how far the remaining prisoners Austin Bid- 
well and H had been concerned in the fraud. He observed 
that Austin Bidwcll had left England in January, yet if he 
made arrangements for the forgery to be continued in his 
name he was just as guilty as though he had written and 
signed the bill himself. 

The jury retired to consider their verdict shortly after 
seven o’clock, and on returning into court after the lapse of 
about quarter of an hour, they gave in a verdict of guiltv 
against all of the four prisoners. 

On being asked if they had anything to say why sentence 
should not be passed upon them, Austin Bidwell replied that 
he had nothing to say for himself, but that he would take 
advantage of the only opportunity he would have to repair a 
wrong he had done to a gentleman then in court, and for 
which he was extremely sorry. He alluded to Col. Francis, 
manager of the Western Branch, hoping that as years rolled 
on he would forget the wrong. That gentleman had been 
the subject of considerable criticism, but speaking from his 
knowledge of the case, he would say any other man in 
London would have been deceived in the same manner. 

George McDonald observed that he had nothing to say of 
the verdict as far as he was concerned, but that Noyes was 
ignorant of the forgery, and Austin Bidwell at the time 
out of England. 

George Bidwell said he did not ask any consideration for 
himself, but he begged that his brother, who was a young man 
and but recently married, might be dealt with mercifully. 
Referring to the prisoner Noyes, he said that he had been 
kept in ignorance of the real state of the affairs. 

Noyes, addressing the court, said he was innocent of the 
proceedings of the other prisoners, and was kept in the dark as 
to who the man Warren was. He concluded by making an 
earnest appeal to the judge to temper justice with mercy. 

Mr. Justice Archibald, after a pause, proceeded to pass 


382 


THE SENTENCE. 


sentence. Addressing each of the four prisoners by name, 
he said : You have severally been convicted of the offense, 
and, although the indictment only charged you with forg¬ 
ing one bill of exchange, it has been necessary in the evi¬ 
dence adduced, for the prosecution to bring before the 
court and jury testimony which shows you were each 
implicated in a crime which, perhaps, for the audacity of 
its conception, the magnitude of the fraud perpetrated, and 
the misdirected skill and ingenuity with which it was 
attempted to be carried into effect, is without a parallel. 
I can see no palliating or mitigating circumstances in your 
offense. You were not pressed by want; on the contrary 
you appear to have embarked in this nefarious scheme a 
very considerable amount of money. You were persons of 
education, so far as intellectual training goes, without any 
corresponding development of the moral sense. Some of 
you can speak several foreign languages, and all of you are 
acquainted with the banking and commercial business. 
The success of the enterprise was only rendered possible by 
the fact that in these times, with the immense commercial 
operations going on in various directions, it is necessary to 
extend to those who are engaged in or contemplate such 
operations, and who give reason to believe they are men 
of business and of apparent respectability, the utmost confi¬ 
dence. It is not the least atrocious part of your crime that 
you have given a severe blow to that confidence which has 
so long been maintained and protected in this country. You, 
who do not ask for mercy, and who are not restrained by 
respect for law or honesty, must be met with a terrible retri¬ 
bution, and it should be well known that those who commit 
crimes, which only persons of education sometimes commit, 
will be sure to meet with a very heavy punishment. I can¬ 
not see any reason to make a distinction in the sentence I am 
about to pass. In regard to that sentence, if I could conceive 
any case of forgery worse than this, I should have endeavored 
to take into consideration whether some punishment less than 


“PENAL SERVITUDE FOR LI FEU 


383 


the maximum might have been sufficient; but, as I cannot 
conceive a worse case* I cannot perceive a reason for miti¬ 
gating the sentence. That sentence is, that each and all of 
you be kept in penal servitude for life, and, in addition to 
that, I order that each of you shall pay one quarter of the 
costs of the prosecution. 

The convicts were then removed from the bar, and thus 
terminated the remarkable trial. 

* Justice Archibald ‘cannot conceive a worse case” of forgery! 
After our crime has been expiated by fifteen years of the worst kind of 
slavery— while not wishing to palliate anything in the way of crime, or 
even anything that violates the Cardinal Principle of life, “ treating others 
as we should wish to be treated ”— I can do no less than call attention to the 
apparent prejudice against us exhibited by him on numerous occasions 
during the trial. And this is well illustrated by the preceding paragraph. 
If the honorable Judge is still alive, let him answer the following question: 
Considered in its moral bearings, and, judging from the relative degree of 
misery caused, which is the worst act : To obtain money by fraud from a 
corporation like the Bank of England, to which millions are but a drop in 
the bucket, or to get away the investments and savings of thousands, 
including the jointures of widows and the inheritances of orphans, leaving 
them to drag out lives amid deprivation and want — and worse? To give 
but one of dozens of instances which have happened in this very England 
during our imprisonment: The managers of the Glasgow Bank perpetrated 
all the enormities shadowed forth above. The evidence was conclusive, 
and the proofs indisputable, but they were not Americans, had influen¬ 
tial friends, and therefore got off with sentences varying from twelve 
months to two years. They were soon again at liberty to perpetrate 
fresh frauds, leaving those of their victims who are not dead to struggle to 
this day for existence — some of their fair daughters to end wretched lives 
as nymphs du pave, and I have seen some of the sons in prison.—G. B. 


NOTE TO FIFTH THOUSAND. 

An eminent solicitor of London, Edward Francis Paynter, 47 St. Paul’s Churchyard, sent 
a copy of this work to his friend W. Archibald, son of the Judge and nephew of the former 
British consul in New York. 

Mr. Archibald sat by his father’s side during the trial taking notes for him, and since 
reading “Forging His Chains” has taken an active interest in procuring my brother’s 
freedom. Referring to above note Mr. A., writes that it could not be expected that one 
receiving, and above all seeing his younger brother receive, a life sentence should view the 
subject in its true light. The Judge died some years since, and in justice to the memory 
of a good man, I insert the following note from his son: “ My father was the most consider¬ 
ate of men, and, as he was on the mother's side of New England parentage, he had no 
prejudice against Americans —rather he was prejudiced in their favor. He himself was a 
man of liberal opinions, piety, and very tender hearted. 

The severe sentence which he passed upon you must, I know, have caused him pain, and 
was only what he felt bound to do from a sense of duty.— W. Archibald.” G. B. 




Chapter XXXVI. 


ARTICLE EROM “LONDON TIMES” — A TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT — ARREST OF 
WARDERS LOCH, SMIDT, AND NORRIS—THE “PATTERN” SOLICITOR, HOWELL, 
AGAIN — A FAITHFUL BROTHER — A SOAP PRISON-KEY — 300 SOVEREIGNS 
THROWN AWAY — SOLICITOR HOWELL’S “BENEVOLENT” VISITS TO NEWGATE 
—HIS ASTUTE PLAN — A PRISON “ TOOL ” — HIS TREASON AND ITS RESULT — A 
BODY-GUARD OF POLICEMEN—NORRIS GETS THREE MONTHS FOR ACTING AS 
A POSTMAN —JOHN BRIGHT’S, CHAMBERLAIN’S, SPURGEON’S, CHURCHILL’S, 
MORLEY’S, MARQUISES LYMINGTON’S AND HARTINGTON’S LETTERS — CHARLES 
DUDLEY WARNER’S, MRS. HARRIET BEECHER STOWE’S, AND MARK TWAIN’S 
PETITION FOR AUSTIN REFUSED—JOHN BIDWELL FLIES FROM ENGLAND — 
SUCCESS OF HOWELL’S RASCALITY—HE IS EXPELLED FROM THE PROFESSION. 

[From the London Times of August 23d, 1873.] 

Q OME further information has transpired in relation to the 
alleged conspiracy to corrupt some of the warders of New¬ 
gate, with a view to procure the release of the prisoners, now on 
their trial, to which reference was made in the Times of Saturday. 
There can be now no doubt that this daring enterprise was seri¬ 
ously contemplated, and but for the energy of some of the city 
magistrates, and notably of Alderman and Sheriff Sir Thomas 
White, had all but succeeded. It would seem that on the eve of 
the trial. John Bidwell, a brother of the prisoners, Austin and 
George Bidwell, reputed to be a man of substance in the United 
States, arrived in this country for the ostensible and legitimate 
purpose of assisting his kinsmen with the means for conducting 
their defense, and that about the same time a cousin of the pris¬ 
oner McDonald Came on a similar errand. Their movements at 
first excited no suspicion, and John Bidwell at least, if not also the 
cousin of McDonald, was accommodated with a seat in the body 
of the court for several days, though that perhaps was only known 
to the sheriff and under sheriffs and the prisoners themselves. All 
went well through the first three days of the trial, the movements 
of the two visitors exciting no suspicion, but on Thursday last 

( 384 ) 




CORRUPTION OF WARDERS! 3$5 

Alderman Sir Thomas White, upon information he had received, 
gave strict orders to the police in attendance that one at least, if 
not two, of the doors in the immediate neighborhood of the dock, 
and leading from the floor of the court to an outer corridor, com- 
municating in two directions with the open street, should be closed. 
This arrangement was thenceforward carried into effect, and has 
since been maintained from day to day. It should be stated here 


BURNING RETURNED BANK NOTES. 

that from the commencement of the trial all the avenues to the 
court have been strictly guarded by the city police, but only or 
chiefly with the view of preventing overcrowding, and the general 
public have been admitted from day to day so far as was consistent 
with comfort. On Friday morning, an intimation having been 
made to Sir Thomas White, the senior Sheriff of London, that 
there was reason to believe attempts were being made to corrupt 
some of the warders of Newgate, he lost no time in communi¬ 
cating with his brother magistrates in attendance, Mr. Alderman 
Finnis, Mr. Alderman Lawrence, and Mr. Alderman Besley, and 
they at once instituted an inquiry within the gaol, the result being 
to convince them that*the information they had received was sub- 


25 












386 


LOCII, SMIDT, AND NORRIS. 


stantially true. One of the suspected warders was searched, and 
upon him were found three letters which he had received from a 
convicted prisoner in the gaol to post, that being contrary to the 
rules of the prison and an infringement of the Gaol Act, which 
provides that letters from prisoners shall pass through the hands of 
the governor. The warder in question was thereupon suspended, 
and moreover for that offense was sent before a magistrate at 
Guildhall by whom he was remanded for a week. The magistrate 
sitting in Newgate continuing their inquiry ascertained beyond 
doubt, as we are assured on reliable authority, that two others of 
the prison warders received £100 each from friends of the prison¬ 
ers or of some of them, and they have reason to believe that an 
attempt was to have been made on the night of Friday last to 
effect their escape. The result for the present is that three of 
the warders have been suspended, namely, Loch, Smidt, and Nor¬ 
ris, the last named of whom is now in Halloway Prison. On Loch 
being searched £50 odd in sovereigns was found upon him, and 
he sought to account for the possession of so large a sum by stat¬ 
ing that his brother at Brighton had placed it in his hands to pay 
bills which he o'wed. Before the discovery, Smidt, one of the 
three suspended warders, is said to have told a detective with 
whom he is well acquainted, that he was going to Tasmania, and 
would carry his best friend in his pocket in the shape of £100. 
This careless avowal caused the detective to watch John Bid well, 
whom he followed from Newgate on his departure after making 
a visit to one of his brothers there confined. One of the above 
named warders left the prison about the same time, and, according 
to prearrangement, met Bidwell, and both got on top of an omni¬ 
bus [the London busses have two seats, back to back, outside]. 
An assistant of the detective managed to mount the same bus and 
sat with his back to the two, whom he so successfully “ shadowed,” 
and heard sufficient to satisfy himself that the brother had paid 
out a considerable sum of money to the warders, in pursuance of 
a plan to assist the four Americans to escape. Some of the 
incriminated warders had been seen drinking in the evenings with 
friends of the prisoners, or sympathizers, and from that time their 
movements were closely watched. One night last week John Bid- 
well, the brother of the two prisoners of that name, was traced 


A BROTHERS ZEAL. 


887 


to the house of one of the three warders in the east end of Lon- 
don, which another of the three was afterward seen to enter. 
Thence John Bidwell was traced to his lodgings in a suburb, 
where he stayed over night unmolested, he having not then, as 
was supposed, committed any offense cognizable by the police, and 
he has not since been seen in or about the court. It is a remarka¬ 
ble fact connected with the affair that all the three suspended 
warders would have been on duty in the prison during the night 
of which there is reason to believe the attempt to release the 
prisoners was to have been made. Since the discovery of the 
plot extra and most stringent precautions have been taken by 
Major Bowman, the chief superintendent of city police, to guard 
the prison and the court-house. Six policemen well armed are 
now on duty within the gaol at night, in place o£ the three sus¬ 
pended warders ; a vigilant watch, moreover, is kept outside, and 
all around it day and night, and instead of the ordinary warders 
who guard the dock while prisoners are on their trial, armed police¬ 
men have been posted. After the discovery it was in contempla¬ 
tion for the moment to exclude the public from the gallery of the 
court over the dock as an additional precaution, but on reflection 
that intention was abandoned. The duty of making the arrange¬ 
ments for guarding the approaches to the court and maintaining 
order now devolves on Major Bowman, the chief superintendent of 
police, and Sheriff Sir Thomas White has been heard to express his 
high sense of the Major’s zeal and discretion on the occasion. 

“ A tempest in a teapot,” indeed! Such an uproar as was 
caused by the transaction referred to in the Times , and proceed¬ 
ing from so small a cause, would be laughable to one who, 
like myself, knew the exact circumstances, but for its tragic 
result. 

I have elsewhere mentioned that this was the chief cause 
why we were not let off with a milder sentence than for life. 
I now give the exact circumstances. 

It will be remembered that a relative — the one referred 
to in the Times — John Bidwell, had arrived in London, 
having ccfme from the United States, like a faithful brother, to 
render such aid as was in his power. Some of the warders 


388 


EQUAL TO BUNCO STEERERS. 


at Newgate saw him coming in daily to visit his brothers — 
or rather talk with them across the grating, as shown in the 
illustration, page 81. His occupation being that of a far¬ 
mer, they could not fail to perceive that he was of an honest, 
confiding nature, and believing he had money, they concluded 
to try for some of it. Accordingly, first one, then another, told 
McDonald that they could let him escape, and he communi¬ 
cated the “ good news ” to his friend Austin. 

They both bit at the bait, and had one of the warders 
speak to me about the proposed escape. As I was rather 
backward about encouraging such a thing, another and 
another warder came. They proposed to let us out at night 
when on night duty, or even in the daytime should a favor¬ 
able opportunity present itself. They also proposed to go 
with us, vacating a responsible post of trust, thus incurring 
the penalty of penal servitude should they ever be caught. 
And all this for what consideration? <£100 — about $500! 
It was too cheap! They saw that I was cold on the project, 
and tried by various devices to get me interested. One of 
them while on duty carved out of soap a key, using his cell 
key for a pattern, and every little while would come to my 
cell, open the trap in the door and show me how he was get¬ 
ting on. He said they were going to get a casting from the 
soap pattern as they had to give up their keys when they 
went home at six or seven p. m. I really began to think 
they were in earnest, but said to myself: “ Even so — but 
what possible chance have we to get out of England, when we 
could not save ourselves at a tiirie when we were unknown, 
now that our pictures adorn the pages of all the illustrated 
papers, and after thousands have seen us.” 

One day, about a fortnight before the trial began, my bro¬ 
ther John, while visiting me at the yard grating, informed 
me that Austin had mentioned the plan to him, and wished 
him to go into it. I told him it was only a speculation on 
the part of those warders, recapitulated the above, and told 
him that they could not accomplish it even if sincere > that in 



ONE HUNDRED SOVEREIGNS EACH. 


889 


the past ages every possible plan, device, and trick for escap¬ 
ing had been resorted to, and guarded against, so that such 
offers could mean nothing but an intended swindle. 

Still, under the circumstances, I did not feel authorized in 
attempting to put a veto on the matter, for the others would 
always feel that I had caused them to throw away a chance 
of escape. I therefore strongly advised him to go into it 
only on condition that the money should be deposited in the 
hands of a third party, to be sent to them or paid over to 
their order after the job was done. As they would be cer¬ 
tain to get the money if successful, refusal of that condition 
would be tantamount to an acknowledgment that they were 
only trying to “ beat ” him out of the money. 

Neither of us knew at the time that every cell door was 
double-locked at ten p. m., so that only with the master key, 
which was kept by the governor, could a cell be unlocked. I 
was quite satisfied that the warders would not accede to such 
a proposition and that the money would be saved. My 
brother departed, promising not to pay it except as I had 
advised. 

Solicitor Howell ca'me in on one of his daily benevolent 
($10) visits, and in order to make sure that John should not 
be taken in, I informed him, under the seal of confidence, all 
about the affair, requesting him to advise John to have noth¬ 
ing to do with it. He also promised to do nothing that could 
arouse suspicion against the warders. Before solicitor Howell 
saw John, the latter had met the warders, as recounted in 
the article copied from the London Times , and was cajoled 
into paying one hundred sovereigns each to three of them. 
The next day John came in and told me what he had done. 
In one of his visits just before the trial, solicitor Howell ques¬ 
tioned me about the matter, and I informed him about the 
three hundred sovereigns. At the same time I expressed to 
him my apprehensions of trouble arising that might prejudice 
our case at the coming trial. He showed visible signs of 
anger and vexation that three hundred sovereigns had slipped 


890 


HOWELL'S CHICANERY. 


through his fingers, but promised to manage the matter so 
that it should do no harm—that in accordance with my wish 
he would see them privately, get back the money, and return 
it to my brother John. I saw clearly enough that he did not 
relish the idea of returning the money, for ever since my 
brother John’s arrival in England, he had exhausted every 
trick and wile to extract from him all the money he had 
brought with him to England, and was well aware that the 
sum paid to the warders was nearly all he had left. 

I am able, by the light of after events, together with what 
I extracted from him during the trial, to lay bare the plan 
evolved by this astute solicitor, by w T hich he accomplished his 
aim of retaining undisturbed possession of what he already 
had in his hands, and to secure for himself the three hundred 
sovereigns. He went to Mr. Jonas, the governor, and divulged 
the whole matter, stipulating that Mr. Jonas should manage 
it so that no suspicion should fall on himself, and that no 
measures should be taken to arrest my brother John, whom 
he himself could easily frighten out of the country at the 
proper moment. In accordance with this arrangement Mr, 
Jonas had a watch set on the warders to see if anything could 
be discovered that would warrant action independent of 
solicitor Howell’s revelations. A young man, whose name 
I have forgotten, call him Jones, was in Newgate awaiting 
trial on the charge of having for some time extracted stamps 
and postal orders from letters sent to his master,, This 
young man was selected as the proper instrument to use in 
worming his way into the confidence of us four Americans. 
In order not to excite suspicion as to his object, he would be 
brought to one or the other of our cells and set at work 
shaving, hair-trimming, or scrubbing and cleaning, the cell 
door standing open and one of the oldest and most reliable 
warders — called “ Old Smith ” — in charge. “ Old Smith,” 
of whom see aback view in cut “Visitors at Newgate,” page 
81, was a character, and, so far as I saw, not a bad, though an 
astute old man. Observing the undue familiarity of some 


JONES'S “ VIRTUE ” /rS OWN REWARD. 39^ 

other warders with us, he had on two or three occasions 
observed to me regarding them: “ Those young fellows will 

get themselves into trouble if they don’t look sharp.” Gov¬ 
ernor Jonas had complete confidence in “ Old Smith ” and 
accordingly had put him on this duty; and I think that while 
on duty he would have obeyed orders if directed to obtain 
evidence which would hang his own brother. Accordingly, 
leaving young “ J ones ” in my cell, or that of one of the 
others, he would walk away down the corridor giving that 
“tool” opportunities for conversation, of which prisoners 
eagerly avail themselves as a break in the monotony of their 
lives. At the time I suspected some design in all this, was on 
my guard, and did not know until years afterward the result 
of the intrigue. It may be well to explain that while awaiting 
trial we were allowed pens, ink, and paper. 

At Dartmoor prison, in 1875, this same Jones was cleaner 
in my ward, and told me the whole affair, and his relation 
remains vividly impressed on my memory. Said he, “ One 
day, while we were at Newgate, I was in McDonald’s cell, and 
he handed me a letter to take to you the first time I should 
be let into your cell. After I returned to my own, I read the 
letter and saw that it was about some plan of escape, and 
thinking to benefit myself I gave it to J onas. And I got well 
paid ! Seven years penal servitude ! But for the moment it 
did help me, for when my case was called, Mr. Jonas spoke a 
good word for me, and I got off with a month in Newgate. 
When my master discovered by what means I had obtained 
the mitigation of my sentence, he was so mad that when the 
month had expired he had me tried on another indictment, 
and, being convicted, am now doing seven years.” 

Jones expressed much regret at having served McDonald 
so shabby a trick, etc. This gave Governor Jonas the oppor¬ 
tunity for which he had been waiting, as he could now pro¬ 
ceed openly, without being obliged to bring Solicitor Howell’s 
name into the matter. 

I now come to the period referred to in the Times article 


392 


WARDER NORRIS IMPRISONED. 


—the fourth day of the trial. It was also rumored that 
about two hundred sporting men had crossed from New York 
to hear the trial, although none of our party had ever 
belonged to that fraternity. Neither ourselves or friends 
had any communication with any of them in London, yet 
it was believed that they were cognizant of and partici¬ 
pants in the “ plot.” A numerous body of policemen were 
detailed, who patrolled, with loaded revolvers, around New¬ 
gate and the Old Bailey day and night. Upon our return 
from the court on the evening of the fourth day, we were 
accompanied by a body-guard of policemen through the under¬ 
ground way leading to the “ passage and stairs,” at the foot 
of which we waited our turn to enter the dock, as depicted in 
the illustration. Arriving in the ward in which my cell was 
located, I saw several others with revolver and truncheon in 
belts. The newspaper columns were rife with particulars, 
strange to us, about this “ daring attempt to escape from 
Newgate.” 

On August 28th Warder Norris was again brought before 
the magistrate at Guildhall, on the charge of having attempted 
to carry out of Newgate the three letters written by a prisoner. 
For this he was fined ten pounds sterling, and in default of 
payment, three months’ imprisonment at hard labor. Besides 
the fine, he was expelled the service, with forfeiture of the 
pay then due him. He asked for a partial remission, on the 
ground that he had a wife and six children to support out of 
his salary of twenty-eight shillings a week, which w'as now 
stopped and they left penniless. His request was not granted, 
and he was sent to prison, leaving his wife and children on 
the town. 

It will be perceived that the affair of the letters was a side 
issue of the plan of escape, and these events caused important 
alteration in the management of Newgate. 

On September 9th a committee composed of magistrates 
of the city, the Lord Mayor acting as chairman, was engaged 
a considerable time at Guildhall, in investigating the circum- 


PERSONAL PROPERTY CONFISCATED. 


398 


stances under which the attempt was made to corrupt three 
of the wardens of Newgate, with a view to facilitate or to 
connive at our escape from prison while the trial was pending 
at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey. The inquiry, for 
various reasons, was private and was adjourned, and a report 
undoubtedly made by the committee to the full Court of 
Aldermen, so that all the circumstances connected with the 
transaction transpired. 

But at the period when these pages were written, I had 
been unable to discover any official account of the result of the 
investigation. While in prison at Dartmoor, I heard that Nor¬ 
ris was sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment, and that 
the other two were dismissed the service. Of course this looks, 
on the bare facts, as though they got off very lightly for such 
a breach of duty. Norris had a wife and six children to 
support and educate in London on a salary of twenty-eight 
shillings (|6.75) per week. I have elsewhere entered into 
this subject of salaries more fully, and the reader will readily 
see how hard it must be for a warder situated like Norris 
to resist the temptation of obtaining money in almost any 
manner consistent with supposed safety. 

I have read in a London paper of contemporary date that 
“ the whole of the prisoners were ready to plead guilty uncon¬ 
ditionally,” provided that an arrangement could be made by 
which we should receive a sentence of ten or, at most, fifteen 
years’ penal servitude; but the authorities “ peremptorily 
refused, and said the law must take its course.” That state¬ 
ment is incorrect, for Austin and Noyes refused under any 
circumstances to plead guilty. McDonald and myself were 
willing to do so if it would be of any benefit to them. Our 
watches and other personal property, clothing, etc., were 


NOTE TO FIFTH THOUSAND 

A prominent English official who took part in the trial, and commends “Forging His 
Chains ” says: — “ The scene on the last day was extraordinary. Everyone believed a res¬ 
cue would be attempted. That is why you were sentenced without a moment’s delay after 
the iury had rendered the verdict of ‘guilty.’ Besides the swarms of officers in uniform 
and in citizen’s dress, all officials, including the judge and officers of the court, were armed; 
and we all breathed a sigh of relief when the sentence of ‘ penal servitude for life was 
passed and you four Americans were safe behind the bars of Newgate.” 



894 


PETITION FOR AUSTIN'S RELEASE. 


ordered by the judge to be sold toward repaying the bank 
the costs of the prosecution (about 8850,000). 

To show the opinions of some of England’s greatest men, 
and at least one of America’s, I have the honor to submit 
copies of letters, etc., appended to a petition for Austin Bid- 
well’s release. Notwithstanding the influence of such emi¬ 
nent names, the petition was refused, because of what was 
said by the American press about my own release — some of 
the newspapers asserting that I would unfailingly plunge back 
into crime. Of course if that should prove to be the truth, the 
authorities would be justified in preventing him from joining 
me in a criminal career. But I trust the time is not distant 
when they will be disabused of that belief. 



JOHN BRIGHT. 


18 Clifford Street, W. (London). 

Dear Mr. Matthews, — May I venture to ask you to consider 
the case to which this letter or memorial refers, and to express my 
opinion that to consent to the petition would be an act not only of 
mercy but of wisdom. 

A life sentence on a young man of 25 years of age for an offense 
against property, seems to me very harsh and inconsistent with the 
better feeling prevailing in our time. 


JOHN BRIGHT STRONGLY SUPPORTED. 


395 

Pray forgive me for thus addressing you. An act of mercy will 
not lessen the confidence of the public in your eminent office. 

Yours very sincerely, 

John Bright. 

To Right Hon. H. Matthews, Home Office. 

July 12th, 1887. 

I heartily support the request of Mr. Bright. 

J. Chamberlain (M. P.). 

Aug. 1st, 1887. 

It does appear as if a life sentence at 25 was as severe as could 
have been had the case been the worst possible to men. 

Surely a careful revision is not too much to ask. I earnestly 
join my request to that of Mr. Bright. 

(The Reverend) Charles H. Spurgeon. 

Aug. 4th, 1887. 

I agree with the above. 

Randolph T. Churchill (M. P.). 

Aug. 4th, 1887. 

I strongly support Mr. Bright’s request. 

John Morley (M. P.). 

I heartily support Mr. Bright’s request. 

(The Marquis of) Lymington. 

I hope the case will be reconsidered. 

(The Marquis of) Hartington. 

Aug. 6th, 1887. 

I think there is here a very strong case for the consideration of 
the Home Secretary. 

Charles Russell (Queen’s Coun.). 

Legation of the United States, 

London, August 9th, 1887. 

I earnestly concur in the foregoing petition . . . and ask the 
favorable consideration of the Home Secretary upon the grounds of 
justice as well as of mercy. 

The prisoner has now been 14 years in penal servitude, counting 
from the time of his arrest fourteen and one-half years. 

As I understand the allowance for good conduct upon time 


393 THE WOMAN OF THE CENTURY SIGNS A PETITION. 

sentences, the imprisonment he has suffered would be nearly equiv¬ 
alent to that of a sentence for 20 if that allowance was made, and 1 
am informed that his conduct during the whole time has been such 
as to entitle him to the allowance. 

I respectfully suggest that for an offense against property only, 
not involving any attempt upon human life, committed by a very 
young man, the punishment he has already suffered is great, and it 
would seem unnecessary cruelty to prolong it. 

The connections of the prisoner in the United States are very 
respectable, and they are very anxious that a further chance in life 
be afforded him, and hopeful that it will be well employed. . . . 

The lady who, with great devotion and self sacrifice, has come 
from Western America, and has remained a number of months on 
this errand of mercy, is warmly commended to me by letters from 
persons of high personal and official standing. 

Should a pardon be granted, the relatives of the prisoner will 
take him immediately to America, and will engage that he shall 
not return to England. 

It will be in the memory of the Home Secretary that the elder 
associate of the prisoner in the crime . . . has already been 
pardoned. 

E. J. Phelps (Ambassador), 

In January, 1888, a petition was forwarded in Austin Bid- 
well’s behalf signed by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Charles Dudley 
Warner, and Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), the reply to 
which, received by Mr. Warner, is presented on next page. 

On the morning of the fifth day of the trial, solicitor 
Howell handed me, while in the dock, a note from my brother 
John, saying that he was “ just leaving for Paris, not daring 
to remain in London, solicitor Howell having ascertained that 
the police were after him for the bribery of Newgate warders.” 

First, this solicitor had now attained his purpose, viz.: No 
friend of ours was left in England to scan his account, and 
what use he had made of the money placed in his hands for 
our defense, and to make him settle fairly through fear of 
exposure. 



LETTER TO CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. 


397 


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to gum the following Numier, 

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893 


EXIT HOWELL. 


Secondly, he had stirred up a hubbub that ensured me, at 
least, being put out of the way by means of a long imprison¬ 
ment. Do I do the man injustice ? The bank solicitor, Mr. 
Freshfield, and in general, the legal fraternity who were 
obliged to know him, will believe what I say, as he was con¬ 
sidered a “ beat ” in the profession. As has been seen, it was 
only by accident that he got into so important a case, and 
it was easy to see that all the eminent counsel engaged 
showed a decided repugnance to coming in contact with him, 
even to receive his “ retainers,” and paltry ones they were. 
Some to whom he applied would not take the case from him. 

But it was just that we should not evade punishment, 
and “ whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad,” 
taking away their capability of judging aright. 

Since the preceding sentence was written, I have been in¬ 
formed by a person just from England, who investigated the 
matter, that soon after our conviction this unscrupulous shark 
was expelled from the profession on account of the “ legal ” 
swindles perpetrated on us and others. 




Chapter XXXVII. 


PENAL SERVITUDE FOR LIFE- FIRST NIGHT AFTER THE SENTENCE — DESPAIR — 
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE — SAVED BY A SUPERNATURAL WARNING—IN CHAINS — 
THE BLACK MARIA — NEWGATE BURYING-GROUND — ARRIVAL AT PENTONVILLE 
PRISON — AN OMINOUS RECEPTION — MEDICAL INSPECTION — PICKING OAKUM — 
EXERCISE — REMARKS ON PRISON LIFE — THE NINE MONTHS’ SOLITARY SYSTEM 
AN ABSURDITY — INEQUALITY OF SENTENCES. 


OW that this extraordinary trial was at last ended, and 



1 \1 the sentence of “ penal servitude for life ” pronounced 
upon us—strange as it may appear, I felt an immediate relief 
from the terrible strain of the previous five months. The 
worst now being known, a great load seemed removed, 
for the matter was settled — my career on earth finished. 
Thus I felt, as for the last time we filed out of the dock, 
down the steps into the corridor shown in the engraving, 
page 129, and along the subterranean passage leading to the 
cells in Newgate — a passage which had been trodden by so 
many thousands of feet, carrying equally hopeless hearts, 
going mechanically onward to meet their doom. On the way, 
the accompanying warders tried to cheer us with the hope of 
a distant pardon; but at that moment I was without hope— 
rather rejoiced in the prospect of a speedy death that I had 
already determined upon. During the trial the experienced 
warders had assured us that, if convicted, we would get at 
most ten or twelve years. Mr. Freshfield, the bank solicitor, 
had informed St. John Wontner, McDonald’s solicitor, that 
the bank would be satisfied with a ten years’ sentence—but 
death had seemed preferable to even that. And now it was 
“ For Life ! ” A thousand times preferable would be a sudden 
death! Come, ye thunderbolts, and blast me out of existence! 


( 399 ) 



400 


THE BROTHERS' PARTING. 


Such was my feeling. Arriving in the ward of Newgate, I 
gave my brother a last embrace, and he passed up the stairs 
to the corridor in which his cell was located, as did the others, 
while I took the way to my own on the lower floor. From 
that evening of the 25th day of August, 1873, to the time of 
this writing, I have never had the opportunity of taking him 
by the hand. 

I sat down upon the wooden stool in my dismal cell, and, 
as I reflected upon the situation, the sense of relief I had 
experienced faded away, and despair took its place. My past 
life — my errors, my lost family, friends, country — all rushed 
through my mind, and overwhelmed me like a tumultuous 
flood. I felt that my life was ended, and that I could not 
bear to live to see the light of another day. I picked up a 
slate and wrote a farewell letter to my wife, and destroyed 
all letters and papers. I considered the sentence an unmerci¬ 
ful one and worse than death. 

Well-nigh maddened by my thoughts, I looked about for 
some means to end a life now become worthless, and found 
two large silk handkerchiefs, as previously related. What 
happened soon after has been briefly described in a former 
chapter, and I refrain from depicting more fully a frightful 
incident in my prison life. 

Through fear of being discovered by the watchman, I left 
the prepared noose hanging, and crept into my hammock, but 
not to sleep. I could exercise no control over my thoughts, 
and within an hour, I was again tortured into a state of des¬ 
peration and felt it to be impossible to live ; and no less than 
three times during that fearful night I put my head in the 
noose, determined to end my misery, but each time, at the 
last moment, came the voice that recalled me to my senses. 
Early in the morning I obliterated all traces of the attempted 
self-murder, erased what I had written on the slate, and no 
one ever suspected that I had been so near unto death. 
Among the papers I destroyed were several letters that my 
brother had received the previous day, which had been 



AN APPALLING CONTRAST. v 4Q^ 

handed in to me to read and return the next morning ; and I 
have no doubt he wonders to this day why I failed to do so. 

During the forenoon all my citizen’s apparel was taken, 
and a suit of jail clothes given me ; my hair and beard were 
cut off, and I was set at work picking oakum. 

About 1 o’clock P. M., on the 27th day of August, warders 
came into my cell, put heavy irons connected by a chain around 
my ankles, and handcuffs on my wrists. I was then let out 
into the corridor, where I saw my three companions rigged 
out in the same graphic style. My mind reverted to the tri¬ 
umphant meeting at the St. James Hotel, previously described, 
and I could not repress a shudder at the awful contrast. 


VISITORS AT NEWGATE STANDING OVER THE BURYING-VAULT. 

DOOR LEADING TO THE BLACK-MARIA. 

We were all four marched across the open court, beneath the 
slabs of which is the vault into which are thrown the bod¬ 
ies of all who die or are hanged in Newgate, quick-lime 
being thrown in, and the vault soon made ready for fresh 
26 



















402 A FINIS FROM THE “ TIMES." 

occupants, which are never lacking. Such is the Newgate 
burying-ground. For us, surely, a worse fate was reserved. We 
continued the march toward our living grave, and reached, 
with chains clanking, an interior court, surrounded by walls 
thirty feet high, in which stood the black-maria or prison 
omnibus, shown in illustration, page 113. This we entered, 
one by one, and were locked into the boxes. Two jail officers 
then mounted the box with the driver; another stood in the 
passage between the boxes; the door was banged, and he was 
locked in with us; the great gate was thrown open, and the 
vehicle was soon rumbling over the stones toward Pentonville 
Prison. 


PENTONVILLE PRISON. 


The following from the London Times of September 2d, 
may be regarded as a finis to that portion of our career: 

On Saturday, George and Austin Bidwell, George McDonald, and 
Edwin Noyes, who were recently convicted at the Central Criminal 
Court of the great forgeries on the Bank of England, and sentenced 
by Mr. Justice Archibald to penal servitude for life, were removed 
from the gaol of Newgate to one of the convict establishments, 
to undergo a portion of their sentence. Before they left Newgate, 












A FULL-DRESS PARTY. 


403 


they were shorn of their beards and whiskers, and clad in prison 
garb, and no one, it is said, could have recognized them after this 
change in their appearance had been effected. 

Pentonville Prison, to which we were bound, is on the oppo¬ 
site side of London from Newgate, and in about half an hour 
the black-maria entered the ponderous gate which closed 
behind us. The van door was unlocked, as were also the 
boxes, and all four of us found in safe keeping! We had 
suffered the worst of all misfortunes, and why the additional 
humiliation of loading us with chains for a half-hour’s ride 
through the heart of London in a van under lock and guards ? 
The jail officers delivered us over to the prison authorities, 
one of whom, as we left the van, ordered us to stand in a row 
while the chains were taken off. My brother happened to 
place himself two or three inches out of the line, and was 
given a heavy thump in the breast by an officer who shouted: 
“Stand back! We’ll show you who is master here!” My 
brother wisely stood back without speaking. 

We had been very kindly treated at Newgate, and I had 
been permitted to take with me in the van two serviceable 
silk handkerchiefs, a tooth and a nail brush. The same man 
took away the handkerchiefs, and ordered me to stamp upon 
the brushes and break them, and none were ever supplied for 
the use of convicts. We were then marched into a room 
in which were a great number of baths, sunk below the level 
of the floor, and ordered to strip and bathe. We were sub¬ 
jected to a disgusting search and inspection of our naked 
bodies by the warders, to make sure that we had nothing 
concealed. 

After this we were ordered to dress in a suit of convict 
clothing, consisting of stockings with three red stripes reach¬ 
ing above the knees, a checked cotton shirt, cloth stock, a 
cap made of three pieces of buff cloth sewed together, cordu¬ 
roy knee-breeches, a vest or waistcoat of the same, and a 
jacket of buff woolen cloth. (For the costume see illustra¬ 
tion, Prisoners at Exercise.) 



404 DREAMING OF HOME. 

We were then marched into a corridor, ranged along the 
wall, and ordered to strip to our shirt (see engraving, 
Chapter XLYI), ready for examination by the medical officer, 
each awaiting his turn to pass into the inspection room. 
After this was over we were marched to cells, each one of 
our party being put in separate wings, and thenceforth every 
precaution was taken to prevent us from seeing or speaking 
to each other. My supper was brought, and consisted of a 
pint of oatmeal gruel and six ounces of bread. 


I got scant sleep on the straw pallet till 5 o’clock a.m., 
and was dreaming of home and family, when 

The cling-clang clanging of the prison bell 
Quick plunged my spirit down from heaven to hell. 

Hurrying on my clothes, an assistant warder came in to show 
me how to fold up the mattress and blankets, and to put 
them away in a nice heap for the day. 

Aftfer breakfast — for which see dietary schedules at the 
end of the next chapter — the assistant warder brought a 


BIDWELL PICKING OAKUM. 
























A CHANGE OF WORK. 


405 


bundle of short, old tarred ropes, which he said contained 
two and one-half pounds, and that I must pick it into oakum 
before night. Well, I sat there, and picked and picked, but 
the pile did not grow fast, and when I put it out at bedtime, 
only half was finished. 

About 11 a. m. the following day, 1 was interrupted in 
the work and ordered into fihe corridor, where I found my 
companions. We were marched before Governor Bones (of 
whom more anon), who, in a menacing voice, read the rules 
of the prison, a copy of which was hung up in each cell. 

Every moment, when not asleep, I was obliged to occupy 
my mind in some way, or my thoughts instantly reverted to 
my family, my wasted life, and the awful fate which I had 
brought upon myself. Even the few minutes between the 
time I was dressed and breakfast were intolerable, for I could 
not help thinking. At night I could not sleep until I adopted 
the device of counting, and this I found necessary to do dur¬ 
ing every waking moment when I could not see to study. 
When taking the noose down at Newgate, I had determined 
to live it out, resolving to devote all my spare time to study, 
for which I had a natural taste and aptitude. 

I was marched into the yard each day for an hour’s exer¬ 
cise. At eight o’clock at night I made down my bed, and 
put the clothes and oakum outside into the corridor. On the 
morning of the second day I took in the clothes and oakum, 
dressed, made up the bed, and swallowed the limited break¬ 
fast. The assistant warder then came in, looked at the oakum 
I had picked, and said that I must pick it all over again, and 
separate every fiber. I told him the dust affected my throat, 
and he very civilly told me to see the doctor. I saw the 
medical officer, Dr. Vane C. Clarke, who, in the kindest man¬ 
ner, listened to what I had to say, and ordered; my work to be 
changed from oakum-picking to sewing. 

From what 1 have written, it will be perceived that upon 
receiving his sentence the convict is taken to the reception 
cells in Newgate, where he first dons the prison dress. His 


406 


PRISON OCCUPATIONS. 




hair is cut close, and he is put to oakum-picking until an order 
is received to remove him to a prison. If he be a Protestant, 
he is sent to the Pentonville; or if a Catholic, to the Millbank 
prison—both in the suburbs of London. At either of these 
prisons, for nine months he is kept sedulously apart from all 
other convicts, and employed at either mat-making, oakum- 
picking, carpet-weaving, shoemaking, or tailoring. For the 



MAT MAKING AT PENTONVILLE PRISON. 

sake of preserving his health it is necessary to give him, daily, 
an hour’s exercise of pacing round and round a plot of ground 
enclosed within the prison walls. (See illustration.) While 
grinding away at this monotonous tramp for the preservation 
of health, the prisoners must keep three paces apart. 

Upon their first reception into a government prison, they 
are examined by the medical officer, and any complaint from 
which one may be suffering, or from which he claims that he 
has previously suffered, is entered on his “ medical history or 


9 














PUNISHMENTS. 


407 


caption-sheet,” together with a full description of all marks, 
defects, and peculiarities of,every kind, however caused; also 
his height and weight. This medical history sheet is sent 
with the convict whenever he is transferred from one govern¬ 
ment prison to another. 

This solitary nine months’ system was established on the 
plea that it affords the prison authorities an opportunity of 
learning the character and disposition of the convicts, thus 
enabling a better classification when they are sent to the 
public works prisons. But my experience, and what I have 
known of its effects on other prisoners, convinces me that it 
is a bad, and in many cases a fatal system, especially to those 
who are undergoing their first term of penal servitude; and 
these are about the only ones who are likely to reform — if 
such a thing is possible under the present English system. 
The first nine months bear the hardest on him, and shutting 
him in solitude so long is apt to drive him into a state of 
desperation or despair, in which many hundreds of men every 
year are excited into the commission of some offense, such as 
striking a warder, attempting to escape, etc., a majority of 
whom would otherwise get through their term by running 
smoothly in the even groove of prison life. Should a prisoner 
lift his hand against any authority, the immediate result would 
be a severe clubbing, beating, and kicking with heavy boots — 
punishments not supposed to be permitted by the superior 
authorities, all under-officers being instructed to use only 
such force as is sufficient to restrain the prisoner. He would 
then be taken before the governor (even for a trivial offense, 
such as talking with or giving a piece of bread to another 
prisoner), and punished more or less severely, according to 
the nature of the offense. In my time a flogging with a cat- 
o’-nine-tails was the most usual sequel to striking an officer, 
no matter what the provocation. 

The prisoner thus acquires a character that follows him 
to the public works prison, and causes him to be specially 
watched and reported for every trifle, particularly if he gets 


408 


A SYSTEM TO BE REVERSED. 


his officer down on him ; then he is likely to be in hot water the 
whole term of his sentence. He loses all his remission, and 
undergoes punishments which cause his death, unless he has 
an iron constitution, and even the strongest often succumb. 

During this period of his imprisonment, just as he has 
been judicially choked off from the full supply of food to 
which he had been accustomed, the prison allowance is less 
than it is afterwards. It is not a good system — rather, an 
absurd one—that keeps a prisoner for the first nine months 
engaged in a sedentary occupation, shut close in a cell, during 
which time he is not permitted the slightest intercourse with 
his fellows. He seldom hears a voice except in the chapel on 
Sundays. Then he is sent to the public works prisons — 
Dartmoor, Portsmouth, Portland, Chatham, or Wormwood 
Scrubs — and set to work out of doors, with a party of men 
who mutually corrupt one another with tales of their knavish 
adventures, interspersed with the vilest language—for there 
are some in every gang who cannot open their mouths with¬ 
out giving vent to obscenities and blasphemies. 

Under the present English system, the last few months 
are made as easy and pleasant as possible to the home-going 
prisoner. This is precisely the portion of his sentence which 
he should be made to feel acutely as the most severe, in order 
that when he recovers his liberty, it may be with an abiding 
sense of the hardships of prison life. It would be a wiser 
system which gives him at once all the usual prison privileges, 
and which winds up with putting him, during the last month 
of his penal term, on a limited diet in solitary confinement. 

The following letter from an officer of a banking company 
embodies a complaint as to the inequality of the sentences 
passed for crimes, such as forgery. The view of the writer is 
in a great degree sound, being unquestionably that sentimental 
or impulsive insinuations are allowed, from the lowest to the 
highest courts, to influence to a most injurious extent the 
treatment of criminal cases. When he insists, however, that 
all cases of forgery being the same in principle, no distinction 


AN HOUR’S MONOTONOUS EXERCISE. 













iiTjJ ! 




ill 'wm0M 


mvJWsBmi i 







114 
























































































































































































































































































































LETTER FROM A BANK OFFICER. 4Q9 

should be drawn between any of them, he will find few to 
concur with him: 

London, Sept. 2, 1873. 

Sir, — In an article on Friday last The Times very properly 
stated that the recent forgery case has created a very great sensa¬ 
tion. The sentence also has taken many people by surprise. Such 
men, no doubt, deserve to be severely dealt with, but the question 
arises, are not all cases of forgery the same in principle, and ought 
not the same punishment to be meted out, whether the Bank of 
England are prosecutors or other institutions of lesser importance ? 
Cases of forgery are not uncommon, but the sentences will bear 
no comparison with the one now referred to. We had within the 
last six months to prosecute a man for forgery. He had been 
moving in apparent respectability, and in certain circles was well 
known and respected, but for some time his succe^ had been the 
result of forgery. He had not long been a customer of ours when 
we took the precaution to forward to the acceptor the bill of 
exchange for verification of signature ; the fraud was thus discov¬ 
ered. [If the Bank of England had taken that very necessary 
precaution, the fraud would have been discovered with the first 
deposit of forged bills for discount.—G. B.] We afterwards 
went to the trouble and incurred the expense of the prosecution. 
The man pleaded guilty and received a sentence of twelve months 
imprisonment only, the expenses of the prosecution amounting to 
nearly £50. We need scarcely say had we thought for one mo¬ 
ment that such a light sentence would have been passed, we should 
have saved our money and time also, and our quondam customer 
might have gone to practice elsewhere. We have before us an¬ 
other case, but we entertain doubts whether it would be worth the 
annoyance and expense to prosecute, for, comparing the sentence 
just passed with many others of recent date, I ask: What is for- 
- gery ? - Is it a thing of degree ? It may be, but between a sen¬ 
tence of twelve months for forgery and a sentence of penal servi¬ 
tude for life for the same thing there is a great gulf. Does the 
prestige of a great institution fill up the chasm ? 

I am sir, yours obediently, 

“H.” (Bank Manager.) 

While not in the least degree wishing to palliate any 
crime, I cannot let the above letter pass without asking 


410 “LENGTH OF THE JUDGE'S FOOT» 

whether, from a moral point of view, the bank forgery was 
so bad as in the majority of cases when advantage is taken 
of a confidential position, betraying a confiding employer; 
or even in the case referred to by the bank manager, where 
the operator took advantage of a bank whom the manager 
had trusted on the strength of his known character, obtained 
in all probability through years of mutual business transac¬ 
tions ? 

In our case no such advantages were taken, the bank 
being entire strangers, even to our names. 

I know a man, Niblo Clark, who has just completed a 
term of penal service of fifteen years for stealing two coats. 
I know another now serving seven years for stealing a shirt. 
The officers of the Glasgow Bank, who perpetrated the frauds 
which caused its failure, and the consequent ruin of thou¬ 
sands, many of whom were widows with children, got but 
one and two years, and while in prison did no work, but had 
every thing made easy for them by wealthy relatives. Such 
contrasts are kept constantly before the eyes of prisoners, 
and they complain bitterly that because they are poor and 
without friends they get heavy sentences for the least infrac¬ 
tion of the law, while those of an opposite social condition 
can steal on a mammoth scale with comparative immunity 
from punishment. 

See also on the same subject the following from the Lon¬ 
don Times of May 14, 1873: 

THE LENGTH OF THE JUDGE’S FOOT. 

London, May 13, 1873. 

Sir, — Permit me to call attention to the inequality of the sen¬ 
tences passed on two persons charged with the same offense, whose 
trials were reported in the Times on Friday, the 9th of May. 
William Alexander Roberts, stockbroker, was indicted for forg¬ 
ing and uttering a check for £11,500, with intent to defraud the 
Consolidated Bank. 

David Swanson, a merchant, was indicted for forging and utter¬ 
ing two bills of exchange with intent to defraud. In the first case 


COMPARISON OF SENTENCES. 


411 


all the facts were disclosed, a verdict of “guilty” was returned, 
and Mr. Justice Denman observed that “the prisoner had been 
guilty of a terrible fraud and a most wicked act, for which the 
sentence must be severe,” and ordered the prisoner to be kept in 
penal servitude for twelve years. In the second case the prisoner 
pleaded “guilty.” The facts therefore were not disclosed in open 
court, and it is presumable the judge, Mr. Commissioner Kerr, was 
not acquainted with them, for the prisoner was sentenced to eight¬ 
een months hard labor. Mr. Roberts, the stockbroker, forged a 
check and got money by that means. 

Mr. Swanson, the merchant, forged bills of exchange, and, get¬ 
ting them discounted, likewise obtained money. Surely, both men 
committed the same offense. How can it be reconciled that one of 
them should remain twelve years in penal servitude, the other 
escape with eighteen months imprisonment ? 

Yours faithfully, H. P. 

I became acquainted with the Alexander Roberts referred to 
in the foregoing letter, in Newgate jail while we were awaiting 
trial. He appeared to be about twenty-two years of age, well 
educated, and a well-disposed young man. He was refined in 
his manners and speech, and had evidently enjoyed the privi¬ 
lege of being brought up surrounded by good associations. 
During the hour’s daily exercise in an inner court of Newgate, 
as shown in the illustration, I talked with him repeatedly 
and was quite interested in his story. I will not go into it 
here farther than to say that it was the. usual one of having 
fallen into bad — genteel bad company — and to keep up a the 
style ” he had been lured on to the result as above detailed 
by “ H. P.” But this writer was not aware of the causes 
which got him the twelve years. These were of a similar 
nature to those which got us “ life,” and which have caused 
the sentences of many a poor wretch to be doubled above 
what the nature of the case would otherwise have warranted. 
As I distinctly remember the substance of his account I will 
let him relate it: 

“ While awaiting trial here, I was taken several times in 


412 


THE CASE OF ROBERTS. 


charge of warders, to the law courts, which are some dis¬ 
tance away, to give evidence in some suits regarding the 
settlement of my business. Ph thinking over the matter I 
resolved the next time I should be taken out of Newgate that 
I would make a run for it. Of course before I am tried and 
convicted I am in citizen’s clothes, and I thought if 1 could 
dodge around a corner I could have a fair chance of making 
good my escape. Therefore, yesterday (about the 1st of May, 
1873) they put on handcuffs, as before, and sent me out into 
the streets in charge of warder Smith. At the corner of 

-Street I made a dive and got some distance away, but 

the handcuffs impeded my flight, and as I turned the next 
corner I ran plump into the arms of a policeman.” 

That is the true reason why Alexander Roberts received a 
term of twelve years penal servitude. That is the reason 
why he was ironed hands and feet; and I saw him walking 
through the inner open-air court (open to the sky alone) in 
which I was exercising, with chains clanking at every step. I 
can never forget the look of mental agony, mingled with a 
pitiful smile of recognition, which he cast upon me as he 
passed within a few feet, on his way to undergo the convict’s 
doom — a way which we four Americans followed three 
months later in exactly the same awful plight, and for the 
same alleged reason — attempting to escape. 

I may add that afterwards at the Pentonville prison I corre¬ 
sponded with him by means of writing on small pieces of slate- 
stone picked up in the yard; of course this was done at the 
risk of three days’ bread and water. 




Chapter XXXVIII. 


DR. VANE C. CLARKE — EFFECTS OF SOLITUDE ON MY MIND—A DESPERATE 
PLAN TO ESCAPE — A CONVICT IMBECILE — STAR MEN — OTHER CLASSES OF CON¬ 
VICTS—THEIR DRESS AND FOOD — REMISSION MARKS — REGULATIONS — PRO¬ 
GRESSIVE STAGES—SCHEDULE OF DIETARIES. 



S before stated, Dr. Yane C. Clarke had relieved me 


from oakum-picking, and had me put at sewing, or in 
prison parlance, tailoring, which includes patching, and any 
work requiring the use of a needle. I had for some years 
been troubled with dyspepsia, lumbago, and throat complaint. 
The nature of the prison food aggravated the first, and the 
damp atmosphere of the English climate, the others,. As the 
winter approached I became worse. Owing to the complete 
and sudden change in my mode of life, in regard to food and 
clothing, I suffered extremely from the cold, and was con¬ 
stantly sick from the effects of the food, and after I had been 
a few months in Pentonville’s solitary cells, I felt sure that I 
should soon die, unless I had a change of some kind — and a 
change I determined to have. At that period of my impris¬ 
onment, I had no knowledge of English prison life, nor of the 
severity with which trivial offenses were punished, and espe¬ 
cially attempts to escape. 

A few days previously, the doctor had ordered me to be 
weighed, and the principal warder in charge of the Infirmary, 
which was in a separate building, came to my cell in the 
prison, and took me out across the yard to a small cottage 
where the scales were kept. As I passed back and forth 1 
observed that this was one of several uninhabited cottages 
which had been enclosed within the walls, which were about 


( 413 ) 



414 


A FORLORN HOPE. 


thirty feet in height. One of these passed along near the 
rear of the cottages. There were a number of long poles 
lying about near the foot of the wall, such as builders use to 
support their scaffolds. In crossing the yard, I saw no one, 
and we entered the cottage, went up stairs, and after being 
weighed, I was marched back to my cell. The time occupied 
about fifteen minutes, and 1 saw no one else during the whole 
operation, except the warder who was with me. I had no 
sooner returned to my cell, than my thoughts began to dwell 
on all I had observed, and I thought to myself : “ There are a 
good many foggy days, and in that isolated cottage it would 
not be impossible for me to throw dust in the warder’s eyes, 
slip a gag into his mouth, and after having stripped off his 
clothes for myself, tie his elbows behind his back, and his feet 
to the scales or stair-railings. In the fog, I could easily place 
one of the poles against the wall unobserved, climb to the 
top, and drop into the street.” 

Sometimes there was little or no sewing to be done, and 
the bundle of oakum had been left that I might pick away upon 
it during such intervals, but I could not, according to the doc¬ 
tor’s order, be compelled to do that work. I selected a suita¬ 
ble piece of dry, old tarred rope, six inches long, that I thought 
would answer for a gag. Out of the picked-rope fibre, I made 
stout strings, and fastened two on the ends of the gag, so that 
they could be tied behind the warder’s neck, and thus secure 
the gag in his mouth. I also saved some of the strings for the 
purpose of binding his hands and feet, and collected a quan¬ 
tity of rope tar-dust to throw in his eyes. I concealed all but 
the gag-piece in the toes of my brogans, which were of so 
unfashionable a size that this pound of stuffing made them 
fit perfectly. I then waited for a favorable opportunity — 
that is to say, a dark foggy day, of which there are plenty in 
London, especially in the winter. On the morning of just 
such a day, I put my name down for the doctor, and when he 
came I complained about my food causing me so much dis¬ 
tress, and that I was losing weight. As I anticipated, he 


THE SITUATION CRITICAL. 445 

ordered the warder to weigh me. I instantly prepared every 
thing and held my right hand full of dust. 

About eleven o’clock he came, and as before we passed 
through the yard toward the cottage, I peering into the fog to 
see if the coast was clear — which it appeared to be — and I 
began saying to myself: “ Courage, George! within ten min¬ 
utes you will be a free man or a corpse ! This warder seems 
a very nice fellow, and I must be careful not to make the 
mistake that O’Neil and his party did at Sing Sing, and choke 
him to death by drawing the gag-strings unintentionally too 
tight around his neck.” In the midst of this soliloquy, just 
as we neared the cottage, something caught my eye, and on 
looking again I saw the indistinct form of a guard standing 
under the wall near the spot where I had intended to scale it. 

I comprehended that it was customary to put on a guard 
during foggy weather, and it was fortunate that I caught 
sight of him before entering the cottage. After having per¬ 
petrated an outrage on the warder, even if successful, I should 
have been obliged to surrender to the guard, and besides a 
flogging with the cat-o’-nine-tails (which many prisoners who 
have undergone it informed me took off a strip of skin at each 
stroke), I should.have been put in chains and kept under 
punishment of some sort as long as I lived. 

My only anxiety now was that the warder should not dis¬ 
cover, while weighing me, anything to arouse his suspicion; 
for I had sufficient contraband articles about me to insure the 
yellow dress and chains for six months. Even the sight of 
my closed hand might cause him to order it opened, and the 
dust therein lead to further search. I had to take my shoes 
off to be weighed, and as the other articles had been trans¬ 
ferred from them to my pockets, I took occasion to empty the 
dust into my shoe, and got back to my cell without discovery. 

I have since thought that had the guard escaped my 
notice, the attempt might have led to murder; for in cases 
of that kind the aggressor, through excitement and fear of 
consequences, frequently goes farther than he originally 


416 


BRUTALITY. 


intended. Burglars do not usually—perhaps never—intend 
the murders they commit; and all such serve to show that 
there is no knowing how far the least coquetting with evil 
may lead. In this case, I had got my mind fixed on freedom, 
and of course the overthrow of my hopes cast me for a time 
back into despair. 

Among those who were sent out into the same yard to 
exercise, I noticed a youth of about sixteen, who appeared 
to be almost a complete imbecile. Instead of turning out 
through the door, he would continue to walk straight up the 
ward until an officer caught and turned him in the right 
direction. Every day when the exercise was over, and the 
order given to march in, he would continue marching around 
the small circle until an officer turned him into the path that 
led to the entrance. One day he and I were the last to start, 
and an old assistant warder, supposing that all were on the 
way in with their faces turned away, went to him and began 
kicking him with his heavy, hob-nailed boots. Could this 
act have been proved against him to the satisfaction of the 
superior authorities, he would have been discharged from the 
service. But these are bound to take the word of a prison 
warder rather than that of prisoners, and the moral level of 
very many is such that they do not scruple to make such 
statements as are necessary to clear themselves. This will 
appear more fully as my narrative proceeds. 

About the middle of January, 1873, my sufferings from 
cold became so clear to the observation of the experienced 
and noble-hearted medical officer, Dr. Yane C. Clarke, that 
he ordered me to be put into a cell, one of the inner walls of 
which formed a portion of the flue which led from the boiler 
furnace beneath my cell. Here I was very comfortable as 
regards warmth, but suffering greatly from dyspepsia, con¬ 
stantly aggravated by the prison food. 

Convicts during the first year are in the probation class, 
nine months of it at the solitary confinement prisons, Penton- 
ville or Millbank, during which time they are allowed no 


PRISONERS' PROMOTION. 


417 


remission. At the expiration of that time they are removed 
to the public works prisons before named, and in case they 
have been well conducted are promoted to the third class, 
which is distinguished by black facings around the cuffs and 
collar of the jacket. The diet is unchanged, except that they 
are allowed an increase of two ounces of bread daily, and 
they can receive a visit for twenty minutes, and write a letter 
once in six months. 

After being a year in the third, if well conducted, they 
are promoted into the second class, which is distinguished by 
yellow facings. In this class they are allowed one pint of 
tea vice gruel, two ounces of bread extra, and also a visit 
of thirty minutes, and may write a letter once in four months. 
After another year, with good conduct, they are promoted 
into the first class, which is distinguished by blue facings, and 
carries with it the maximum amount of bread, twenty-four 
ounces per day, an increase of two ounces in each class. 

Every prisoner has a letter and numbers on his arm. The 
letter represents the year in which he was convicted; thus 
“ Z 1084. 20,” in a circle, on the arm above the elbow (see 
cut Prisoners at Exercise), denote the year 1873, the wearer 
being the 1084th man convicted that year, and his sentence 
twenty years. 

Those whom the authorities suppose never to have had 
another conviction wear a red star above the circle on the 
arm, and are kept apart from old “ lags.” In this the inten¬ 
tion is good, but a great many of the younger succeed, 
through the changes of appearance as they grow older, in 
concealing their former convictions, and mingling with the 
genuine “ star ” men render futile most of the precautions 
adopted for their protection against the contagion of the 
ordinary English prison associations. 

By this system each man can, by good conduct and hard 
labor, earn eight marks a day ,; or, deducting the first nine 
months (upon which no remission is allowed), one quarter 
of his sentence. Six of the eight marks represent his full 
27 


418 


OFFENSES AND PUNISHMENTS. 


sentence, so that if he is credited with seven marks a day he 
gets one month of every eight remission; if eight, then two 
of every eight. Thus, a man with a sentence of four years 
and nine months, would get remission on the four years. 
Light work would give seven marks a day or six months, and 
hard work eight marks, or twelve months’ remission. It 
will be perceived that the two marks a day are all that can 
be gained, the other six counting for nothing. 

The official punishments were flogging with the cat-o’- 
nine tails and birch rods, chains, the crank, the tread-mill, 
straight-jackets, galvanic battery, and another very shock¬ 
ing, the shower-bath, also bread and water, and penal-class 
diet. This diet consisted of one pint of good oatmeal por¬ 
ridge for breakfast and supper, and one pound of boiled 
potatoes for dinner. In case a man received a sentence of 
bread and water (only one pound of bread per day) for 
more than three days, every fourth day he must have this 
diet. If the offense consisted in tearing up either his wear¬ 
ing apparel or bedding, besides the chance of a flogging and 
the punishment of bread and water, he would lose from 
-eighty to two hundred and fifty marks, representing from 
forty to one hundred and twenty-five days’ remission, at two 
marks per day; also to wear the parti-colored dress, one 
side from top to toe black and the other buff. In case he 
tore these up, he was then forced to wear a suit made of 
double-sewed heavy sail canvas, that he could not tear. 

Any attempt to escape brought bread and water, heavy 
band-irons riveted on the ankles and connected by a chain 
three feet long, the whole weighing from eight to sixteen 
pounds—and also the parti-colored dress of yellow and buff. 

The punishment for violence against any prison authority, 
striking a warder, or any like offense, incurred a terrible pen¬ 
alty: bread and water—six or twelve months (perhaps more) 
penal-class diet — three dozen strokes of the flesh-cutting cat- 
o’-nine tails, and very likely the ankle-irons for six or twelve 
months, besides the ex officio preliminary “ doing ” by the 
warders. 


PRISON REGULATIONS. 


419 


L. P. ABSTRACT OF THE REGULATIONS 

D. 20. RELATING TO THE 

TREATMENT AND CONDUCT OF CONVICTED 
CRIMINAL PRISONERS. 

1. Prisoners shall not disobey the orders of the governor or of 
any officer of the prison, nor treat them with disrespect. 

2. They shall preserve silence, and are not to cause annoyance 
or disturbance by making unnecessary noise. 

3. They shall not communicate, or attempt to do so, with one 
another, or with any strangers or others who may visit the prison. 

4. They shall not disfigure any part of their cells, or damage 
any property, or deface, erase, destroy, or pull down any rules or 
other papers hung up therein, or commit any nuisance, or have in 
their cells or possession any article not sanctioned by the orders 
and regulations. 

5. They shall not be idle nor feign sickness to evade their 
work. 

6. They shall not be guilty of profane language, of indecent or 
irreverent conduct, nor shall they use threats towards, or commit 
assaults upon officers or one another., 

7. They shall obey such regulations as regards washing, bathing, 
hair-cutting, and shaving as may from time to time be established 
wfith a view to the proper maintenance of health and cleanliness. 

8. They shall keep their cells, utensils, clothing, and bedding 
clean and neatly arranged, and shall, when required, clean and 
sweep the yards, passages, and other parts of the prison. 

9. If any prisoner has any complaint to make regarding the 
diet, it must be made immediately after a meal is served, and be¬ 
fore any portion of it is eaten. Frivolous and groundless com¬ 
plaints repeatedly made will be dealt with as a breach of prison 
discipline. 

10. A prisoner may, if required for purposes of justice, be 
photographed. 

11. Prisoners shall attend Divine Service on Sundays and other 
days when such service is performed, unless they receive permission 
to be absent. No prisoner shall be compelled to attend the religious 
services of a Church to which he does not belong. 

12. The following offenses committed by male prisoners con- 



420 


RE G UL AT IONS - CONTJN UED. 


victed of felony or sentenced to hard labor will render them liable 
to corporal punishment [meaning birch or cat-o’-nine-tails]: — 

1st. Mutiny or open incitement to mutiny in the prison, personal 
violence to any officer of the prison, aggravated or repeated 
assault on a fellow-prisoner, repetition of insulting or threat¬ 
ening language to any officer or prisoner. 

2d. Willfully or maliciously breaking the prison windows, or 
otherwise destroying prison property. 

3d. When under punishment willfully making a disturbance 
tending to interrupt the order and discipline of the prison, 
and any other acts of gross misconduct requiring to be sup¬ 
pressed by extraordinary means. 

13. A prisoner committing a breach of any of the regulations 
is liable to be sentenced to confinement in a punishment cell, and 
such dietary and other punishments as the rules allow. 

14. Any gratuity granted to a prisoner may be paid to him 
through a prisoners’ aid society, or in such way as the commission¬ 
ers may direct. 

15. Prisoners may, if they desire it, have an interview with 
the governor or superior authority to make complaints and prefer 
requests, and the governor shall redress any grievance, or take such 
steps as may seem necessary. 

16. Any prisoners wishing to see a member of the visiting com¬ 
mittee, shall be allowed to do so on the occasion of his next occur¬ 
ring visit to the prison. 

Printed at H.M. Convict Prison, Millbank. 9—7. (621 ) 

L. P. SYSTEM OF PROGRESSIVE STAGES 
P.76. FOR MALE PRISONERS 

SENTENCED TO HARD LABOR. 

1. A prisoner shall be able to earn on each week-day 8, 7, or 6 
marks, according to the degree of his industry; and on Sundays 
he shall be awarded marks according to the degree of his industry 
during the previous week. 

2. There shall be four stages, and every prisoner shall pass 
through them, or through so much of them as the term of his 
imprisonment admits. 

3. He shall commence in the first stage, and shall remain in the 



SYSTEM OF PROGRESSIVE STAGES. 421 

first stage until he has earned 28 x 8 or 224 marks; in the second 
stage until he has earned 224 more marks, or 448 in the whole; 
in the third stage until he has earned 224 more marks, or 672 
in the whole ; in the fourth stage during the remainder of his 
sentence. 

4. A prisoner whose term of imprisonment is twenty.eight 
days, or less, shall serve the whole of his term in the first stage. 

5. A prisoner who is idle, or misconducts himself, or is inat¬ 
tentive to instruction, shall be liable : — 

(1.) To forfeit gratuity earned or to be earned. 

(2.) To forfeit any other stage privileges. 

(3.) To detention in the stage in which he is until he shall have 
earned in that stage an additional number of marks. 

(4.) To degradation to any lower stage (whether such stage is 
next below the one in which he is, or otherwise), until he has 
earned in such lower stage a stated number of marks^ As 
soon as the prisoner has earned the stated number, then, 
unless he has in the meantime incurred further punishment, 
he shall be restored to the stage from which he was degraded, 
and be credited with the number of marks he had previously 
earned therein. 

6. None of the foregoing punishments shall exempt a prisoner 
from any other punishment to which he would be liable for conduct 
constituting a breach of prison regulations. 

7. A prisoner in the first stage will * 

( a ) Be employed ten hours daily, in strict separation, on first 
class hard labor, of which six to eight hours will be on crank, 
treadwheel, or work of a similar nature. 

( b ) Sleep on a plank-bed, without mattress. 

( c ) Earn no gratuity. 

8. A prisoner in the second stage will 

( a ) Be employed as in the first stage until he has completed 
one month of imprisonment, and afterwards on hard labor 
of the second class. 

(5) Sleep on a plank-bed, without a mattress, two nights 
weekly, and have a mattress on the other nights. 

( c ) Keceive school instruction. 

(d) Have school-books in his cell. 


422 


PROGRESSIVE STAGES - CONTINUED. 


( e ) Have exercise on Sunday. 

(/) Be able to earn a gratuity, not exceeding one shilling. 

( g ) The gratuity to a prisoner in this stage, whose sentence is 
not long enough for him to earn 244 marks in it, may be 
calculated at one penny for every 20 marks earned. 

9. A prisoner in the third stage will 

(a) Be employed on second class hard labor. 

( b) Sleep on a plank-bed, without a mattress, one night weekly, 
and have a mattress on other nights. 

( c) Receive school instruction. 

( d ) Have school-books in his cell. 

( e ) Have library-books in his cell. 

(/) Have exercise on Sunday. 

( g ) Be able to earn a gratuity, not exceeding Is. 6d. 

(A) The gratuity to a prisoner in this stage, whose sentence is 
^ not long enough for him to earn 244 marks in it, may be 
calculated at one penny for every 12 marks earned. 

10. A prisoner in the fourth stage will 

( a ) Be eligible for employment of trust in the prison. 

( l ) Sleep on a mattress every night. 

( c ) Receive school instruction. 

( d ) Have school-books in his cell. 

( e ) Have library-books in his cell. 

(/) Have exercise on Sunday. 

(g ) Be allowed to write and receive a letter, and receive a visit 
of twenty minutes, and in every three months afterwards to 
receive and write a letter and receive a visit of half an hour. 

( h) Be able to earn a gratuity not exceeding two shillings. 

( i ) The gratuity to a prisoner in this stage, whose sentence is 
not long enough for him to earn 244 marks in it, may be 
calculated at one penny for every 10 marks earned. 

(/) The gratuity to a prisoner in this stage, whose sentence is 
long enough to enable him to earn more than 896 marks, may 
be calculated at the same rate, provided that it shall not in 
any case exceed ten shillings. 

(620) Printed at H. M. Convict Prison, Millbank. 9—7. 


DIETARY FOR CONVICTED CRIMINAL PRISONERS. 


DIETARY TABLE , 


423 



( 






















DIETARY FOR CONVICTED CRIMINAL PRISONERS — (Continued). 




424 


DIETARY— CONTINUED. 



«4H 

a> 

PQ 

o 


T3 

o> 

3 


in 

£* 

3 

in 

o 

& 

c3 

a 

a 

o 

o 

c3 

PQ 

c3 

3 

c3 

CZ3 

a 

c3 

0> 

m 

















































TABLE OF SUBSTITUTES FOR COOKED ENGLISH BEEF AND POTATOES, WHICH MAY BE ISSUED 

IF DEEMED NECESSARY BY THE AUTHORITIES. 


TABLE OF SUBSTITUTES. 


425 


Cooked 

Salt 

Fish. 

Ounces. 

12 

9 

Cooked 

Salt. 

Meat. 

Ounces. 

6 

u 

Cooked 

Fresh 

Fish. 

Ounces. 

8 

6 

American or other 
Foreign Beef, Pre¬ 
served by Cold, 
weighed after 
cooking. 

Ounces. 

4 

3 

Beans and Fat 
Bacon, both 
weighed after 
cooking. 

Ounces. 

Beans, 9. 

Fat Bacon, 1. 
Beans, 7. 

Fat Bacon, f. 

Colonial Beef or 
Mutton, Preserved 
by Heat. 

(Served cold). 

Ounces. 

5 

3f 


In lieu of 4 oz. Cooked English Beef, 

In lieu of 3 oz. Cooked English Beef, 


03 

a 

o 

PQ 

=s 

o 


03 

.5P 

03 

£ 

03 

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03 

03 


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HH 

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l—l 


(All weighed after Cooking.) 





























426 


CLASSIFICATION OF DIETS. 


At the expiration of nine months, one pint of cocoa with two 
ounces extra bread may be given at breakfast three days in the 
week, in lieu of one pint of porridge or gruel, if preferred. 

The following will be the terms to which the above diets will be 
applied: 

Prisoners sentenced to seven days ) 
and under,. . . . . j 

Prisoners sentenced to more than \ 
seven days, and not more than > 
one month, . . . . ) 

Prisoners sentenced to more than \ 
one month, and not more than > 
four months.) 


No. 1 diet for whole term. 


Prisoners sentenced to more than 
four months, .... 


No. 1 diet for seven days, 
and No. 2 for remainder of 
term. 

No. 2 diet for t one month, 
and No.U for remainder of 
term. 

No. 3 diet for four months, 
and No. 4 for remainder of 
term. 





Chapter XXXIX. 


i 


PRISON AUTHORITIES—GOVERNORS — DOCTORS—DUTIES OF THE CHIEF WARDER — 
WHY WARDERS ARE FALSE TO THEIR DUTIES — A PERFECT CONVICT SYSTEM “ ON 
PAPER”—CORRUPT WARDERS — BRUTALITIES KILL AND LEAVE NO MARK — 
CONVICT ROBINSON KICKED TO DEATH — AN HONEST WARDER DISCHARGED AS 
INSANE FOR EXPOSING THE CRIME—RESULT WHEN CONVICTS COMPLAIN — 
ABSTRACT OF PRISON REGULATIONS — CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER’S OPINION. 

M Y narrative has now reached a point where my actual 
, penal servitude begins, and it will be well to present 
here some account of those who were to rule my life for so 
many years. 

The Board of Prison Commissioners have their head¬ 
quarters at the Home Office in Parliament Street, London, 
and are under the control of the Home Secretary of State. 
One of these visits each of her Majesty’s convict establish¬ 
ments once a month, in order to try any cases of insubordina¬ 
tion which are of too serious a nature for the governor of the 
prison to adjudicate upon, he not being permitted to order 
any penalty beyond a few days of bread and water, and loss 
of a limited number of remission marks. 

The head authority at each prison is the governor, of 
whom the largest establishments, like Portland, have two ; the 
smaller one ; and the smallest none. Next comes the deputy 
governors — the medical officer and an assistant doctor; the 
chaplains and schoolmasters, Protestant and Catholic. There 
are four grades of prison warders, viz., the chief warder, 
- principal warders, warders, and assistant warders. The chief 
warder of course stands first in the list, and his duties, if hon¬ 
estly executed, render him the most important, as he is the 
most responsible of the prison officials, save, perhaps, the med- 

( 427 ) 



428 


ADM1NISTRA T1VE PO WER. 


ical officer, who is the autocrat of the place. But, in case any¬ 
thing goes wrong, he is the man who gets all the blame, and 
when matters run smoothly and well, the governor gets all the 
thanks. During the absence of the governor, the deputy takes 
his place, and in turn the chief warder performs the duties 
of the deputy governor’s office. As all business passes through 
the chief’s hands, he must be a fair scholar, though sometimes 
a principal warder who understands book-keeping is detailed 
to assist him. He must be of strict integrity, a thorough dis¬ 
ciplinarian, and of a character to make him respected both 
by his superiors and inferiors in position. The warders of 
all grades are under his command, and must fear him for his 
inflexibility in punishing any breach of regulations, and have 
confidence in his disposition to act justly toward them, he 
being the one on whom the governor relies for all information 
regarding their conduct. It is on the reports of the chief 
warder that the governor acts in all cases involving their pro¬ 
motion, reprimand^, or fines, and their applications for leave 
of absence must be approved of and signed by him. It is 
clear that unless he is very straight in the performance of his 
duties, he would soon place himself in the power of some of 
the warders, who would not fail to take advantage of any 
knowledge of his derelictions to benefit themselves, and to the 
detriment of discipline and good order. Under the English 
government, the salary of a man possessing these superior 
qualifications, is between five and six hundred dollars a year 
and his uniform. This is of blue cloth, the sleeves and collar 
of the coat and his cap embroidered with gold lace. On alter¬ 
nate days, at the prison where I was confined, he came on 
duty at 5 a. m. in summer, and 5.80 in winter, and left the 
prison at 4 p. m., leaving in charge a principal warder, com¬ 
ing on duty the following morning at 7 a. m. At 6 o’clock 
p. m., after receiving the reports from the ward officers, stat- . 
ing the number of prisoners each has just locked up, and 
thus seeing that all are safe, he locks with his master-key the 
gates and outer doors of the main buildings, and before finally 


WARDERS. 


429 


retiring for the night he must lock the outer gate, so that no 
one but the governor can get in or out — each watchman being 
locked into the ward which he is set to guard. There are 
bells in his room connecting with the various wards, and in 
case of sickness or any other emergency, he is the man who 
is aroused. It is the chief warder who keeps everything con¬ 
nected with the prison in running order, and whatever goes 
wrong the cry is for the chief, and he is sent for be it day or 
night. 

In a large convict establishment there are a dozen or more 
principal warders. These are the lieutenants of the chief, and 
have general supervision of the working parties. Their pay 
is about four hundred dollars a year and uniforms. There 
are of the other two grades, warders and assistant warders, 
from two to three thousand employed in all her Majesty’s 
prisons in Great Britain and Ireland. Warders and assist¬ 
ant warders are provided with a short, heavy truncheon, 
which each carries in his hand, or in a leather sheath which 
hangs from his belt, to which is also attached a sort of 
cartouch-box in which he keeps the keys, which are fastened 
to a chain, the other end to his belt. When about to leave 
the prison, on going off duty, he must hang up the belt and 
attachments in the chief warder’s office. Their pay, besides 
uniforms, which are of blue cloth, is three hundred and fifty 
dollars a year for warders, and three hundred for assistant 
warders. All promotions are by seniority. In case of trans¬ 
fer by the authorities to any other prison, they retain their 
position in the line of promotion, but if they volunteer or 
make application to be transferred, they have to begin at the 
bottom in reckoning the length, of service for promotion. 
When the authorities wish to transfer warders, it is usual for 
them to call for volunteers, of whom they find a sufficient 
number anxious for a change, unless the transfer is to an 
unpopular station, such as Dartmoor, which is among the 
bogs, and a lonely, bleak place. 

Warders are exempted from doing night duty, which is all 


430 


A “DOG'S LIFE.' 


done by the assistant warders, who are on that service one 
week out of three. Although, when on night duty, they had 
the day for sleep and recreation, I never saw one who did not 
detest it, because they must remain on duty continuously for 
twelve hours, and must not read, sit down, nor lean against 
anything, nor have their hands behind them, but must remain 
standing upright. These military regulations apply as well 
to the whole time they are on duty in the prison, day or 
night. A few years ago the time of daily duty was reduced 
to twelve hours, with one hour at noon for dinner. Besides 
this, at times they must do a good deal of extra duty. Each 
is allowed ten days annual holiday, but is frequently obliged 
to take it piecemeal, a day or two at a time, so that he cannot 
go far away from the scene of his servitude. Their duties 
require unflagging attention, and never-ceasing vigilance, 
which must be a heavy tax on the brain, and the twelve hours 
must be passed in standing or walking about. In fact, they 
are subjected to military discipline, or rather despotism, and 
any known infraction of the rules subjects them to penalties 
according to the nature of the offense. Leaning against a 
wall, sitting down, etc., for a first offense, they are mulcted in 
a small sum—twelve to sixty cents, usually — and are put 
back in the line of promotion. The fines go to the Officer’s 
Library fund. I knew one officer, Joseph Matthews, who had 
been assistant warder twenty years, and being frequently set 
back for doing some small favor to prisoners, was dis¬ 
charged from the service in 1886, without a pension, for some 
slight breach of regulations. He had a wife and six children, 
and had worked twenty years for less than seven dollars 
per week. For giving a convict a small bit of tobacco, a heavy 
fine, suspension, and in case it was not the first offense, expul¬ 
sion from the service without a pension. For acting the go- 
between, and facilitating correspondence with the friends of 
convicts, expulsion — possibly imprisonment. One of the 
assistant warders, who was convicted of having received a 
bribe of one hundred pounds from one of us at Newgate, was 


ILL-PAID SERVICE UNPROFITABLE. 


431 


expelled from the service and imprisoned eighteen months. 
Another at Portsmouth prison underwent the same fate, save 
that his term was but six months, for sending and receiving 
letters for a prisoner, and similar cases are of frequent 
occurrence. 

The warders and assistant warders are the ones who come 
in direct and constant contact with prisoners, and when the 
eye of no superior authority is on them, or nothing else to 
deter, they are “hail fellow well met” with such of the 
convicts as are unprincipled enough to curry favor with and 
assist them in covering up their peccadilloes from their supe¬ 
riors. They naturally recoil at the hardness and parsimony 
of the government toward them, evading the performance of 
duties when they can; and I have heard more than one say, 
substantially, in reply to a remark that I was surprised that 
they dared be so lax in their duties and permit prisoners to 
carry on as they did: “ Why should we care what prisoners 
do, so long as we don’t get into trouble ? The government 
grind us down to twelve hours’ daily duty on just pay enough 
to keep body and soul together; then, if we complain, tell us 
that we can leave if we like, as there are others ready to step 
into our places. Bah! what do we care for the government ? 
It is of no benefit to us; the big-guns get big pay, and the 
higher up the office the more the pay and the less the work. 
To be sure, we can go out of the prison to sleep, but other- ~ 
wise we are bound down as closely as the convicts,” etc., etc. 
Yet these very warders, the moment any superior authority 
appears on the scene, are as obsequious and fawning as 
whipped dogs, and recoup themselves for this forced humilia¬ 
tion by “taking it out” of such of the convicts as fail to 
curry their favor, or offend, or make them trouble. Surely 
their office is a very responsible one, and it is blind, false 
economy to retain low-priced men in such a position. The 
present English system of penal servitude is perfect on paper, 
and so far as regards cleanliness, clothing, and quality (not 
quantity) of food, there is no just ground for fault-finding; 


432 


UNFIT TO EXERCISE PO WER. 


but the moral qualities of most of the warders and assistant 
warders precludes all possibility of the reformation of those 
in their charge. 

Notwithstanding the expositions of the English delegates 
at the international meetings, prison reform has never yet 
been tried in Great Britain and Ireland. In other y^ords, all 
efforts in that direction have been defeated by placing con¬ 
victs in the immediate charge of a class of men who by edu¬ 
cation and training possess none of the qualifications requisite 
for such a responsible position. 

In so far as forms are concerned, the business of the 
prison is carried on most systematically. There are blank 
forms which cover everything, from provisioning the prison 
to bathing the men, and these must be filled in and signed by 
the warder in charge of the particular work being done. For 
example: every two weeks—those in the Infirmary every 
week^—he must fill in the proper form, and certify that 
every man in his ward has had a bath, unless exempted by 
the doctor. At Woking prison I have known men to go 
unbathed for many months, simply because they did not wish 
to bathe, and it saved the warder trouble — nearly all others 
in the ward only bathed about once a month, and yet at the 
stated times the officer filled up and signed the form, certify¬ 
ing to the superior authorities that those in his ward had been 
bathed at the regulation times. 

A great majority of the officers employed in the prisons 
and jails of Great Britain and Ireland are soldiers who have 
been invalided or pensioned off after doing the full term for 
which they enlisted — twelve years — and of sailors in the 
same condition. In order to encourage enlistment into the 
army and navy, the government gives discharged soldiers and 
sailors, the preference in the civil service, apparently heedless 
as to their moral qualifications. Indeed, it would be difficult, 
if not impossible, to ascertain about these, for the very nature 
and present requirements of those services tend to harden and 
make men conscienceless, subservient, and fawning toward 
their superiors, and tyrannical to those in their power. 



PRINCIPAL WARDERS, WOKING PRISON. ; jj; ^therell, 



ASSISTANT WARDERS, DARTMOOR PRISON. 


“1 

. - i 
. ■ j 

• j 











TRUTH SPOKEN IN JEST. 


433 


As to those in the prison service, there are many who 
would be good men in a situation suited to their acquirements, 
and there are but a few of those who are brought into imme¬ 
diate contact with the convicts—who, in fact, virtually hold 
the power of life and death over them—whose influence is of 
an elevating or reforming kind. Indeed, I have heard many 
of them telling or exchanging obscene stories with prisoners, 
and using the vilest language and bandying thieves’ slang, in 
which they become proficients. I am bold to say that at least 
one-half of all I have known are in morals on a level with the 
average convict, or, as I have heard more than one assistant 
warder say, “too much of a coward to steal, ashamed to beg, 
and too lazy to work ” — therefore became a soldier, then a 
prison warder. This may, at the moment, have been spoken 
in a jesting way, but it is none the less true. 

What can be expected, in the way of refinement and good 
morals, from a class of men who entered the army or navy, 
coming, as they did in most cases, from the untaught and 
mind-debased multitude with which that land of drink and 
debauchery swarms ? 

It will be seen from the foregoing that very much is 
expected from them, and in order to fulfill the very hard 
terms of their contract with the government, and keep their 
places, they are forced to resort to trickery, deception, and 
perjury, until these, in their attitude toward their employer, 
the government, become second-nature, readily resorting to 
lies to clear themselves from blame, even in trivial matters, to 
save themselves from a sixpence fine. There are jealousies 
among themselves, but when it is a question of deceiving, or 
keeping any neglect of duties or violences against prisoners 
from the superior authorities, they all unite as one man, and 
affirm or swear to anything they think the position requires 

For example: A convict named Robinson was kicked in 
the lower ribs and abdomen so that he died within a few 
days. I have heard officers assert that they could “kill a 
man without leaving a mark.” In the case of Robinson a 
28 


434 


THE CASE OF ROBINSON. 


large surface turned purple, so that the doctor saw that fatal 
violence had been used. The patient’s parents were sent for, 
to whom he related the occurrence, inculpating certain officers 
of Woking prison. An officer of unusual bravery and moral 
courage — as his conduct in this affair showed — had seen the 
violence done to Robinson and exposed it to the superior 
authorities, his account corroborating the dying declaration 
of the convict Robinson. When he died, the doctor made the 
usual post-mortem examination, ascertaining the exact causes 
of his death. The coroner’s jury, as usual in all cases of 
death of convicts, was impaneled and evidence taken. One 
or two prisoners known to me wished to go before the jury to 
give their evidence, but they were not called. The officer 
before referred to made oath to the facts. Those who did 
the violence came forward with their friends and rebutted his 
evidence in so firm, conclusive, and brazen a way, that this 
noble-hearted officer was discharged from the service as a 
lunatic , because he had dared to state the truth as it was well 
known to many officers and prisoners. I am quite aware that 
the foregoing, and many other things yet to be drawn from 
my memory, will appear incrediblebut if the English gov¬ 
ernment will grant me the necessary facilities, I think it in 
my power to produce persons and papers which shall prove 
that all I write is strictly true. 

Although prison officers are not supposed to use more 
force than is absolutely necessary for self-protection, in prac¬ 
tice they operate in quite a different manner and on another 
principle, shocking instances being not infrequent. Numer¬ 
ous cases of cruelty have come under my notice, and I have 
seen several prisoners die from the neglect and ill-treatment 
of brutal warders. 

Prisoners have little chance of getting their grievances 
redressed, because they are forced to make their complaints, 
in the presence of warders, to the governor, or to the govern¬ 
ment commissioners on their periodical visits. 

A “new chum” — and he must be excessively “fresh” — 


REFORMATION AN ECONOMY. 


435 


may dare to make complaints against warders; but it is well 
known among old u lags ” that they may as well cut their 
own throats as to do that. Indeed, there is a general under¬ 
standing between these and the warders that the latter are to 
be upheld under all circumstances. For example, I have 
known instances where men were brutally kicked and beaten 
for some trifle which made the warder lose his temper. In the 
excitement of the moment the victim would declare that he 
would tell the governor. “ Tell the governor, will you ! You 

-scoundrel! I ’ll teach you to complain! ” And amid 

a volley of vile language the warder would repeat the ill-treat¬ 
ment, well knowing the governor was bound by law to believe 
official evidence in preference to the word of any prisoner, and 
that his own unblushing denial must be accepted. It is a 
frequent occurrence that the officer turns the tables on the 
complaining convict, and gets him punished for making false 
statements when he had but told the simple truth. 

Surely, the reformation of the criminal must become the 
one great object in any system of imprisonment. As a rule, 
prison life is begun when young in years, and, though tainted, 
they are not so deeply immersed in vice but that there is a 
good prospect of reformation. Most certainly it will not cost 
society a thousandth part as much to rescue a child as will be 
the expense of maintaining him in prison — though I will 
leave out that factor, and say, as the sum of his depredations 
during the varying periods when he is outside of a prison. 

The fact is that the majority of prisoners would die in a 
short time if left at liberty, their mode of life and dissipations 
wearing out their constitutions rapidly. By the time they 
are shattered or on the brink of the grave, they get into 
“ trouble,” are sent to prison, where the regular mode of life 
restores them to vigor; then they are at liberty long enough, 
usually, to have committed a considerable amount of depre¬ 
dations and used up that vigor, about which time they are 
again in “ trouble”;* and so they revolve — a certain class 
have the designation of “revolvers” — through life, dying in 



436 FROM THE AUTHOR OF “BACKLOG STUDIES .” 

either prisons or workhouses. I have heard more than one 
clever professional say something like this: “ To be sure, I 
am doing my second (third or fourth) term, but then I shall 
have lived longer, and have been free a longer time in all, 
than if I had never been in prison, for in that case I should 
have gone to the devil flying! ” 

In the words of one of America’s greatest authors — Charles 
Dudley Warner—spoken to me not long after my arrival from 
England: “There will never be any success in reforming 
criminals until the prison officers with whom they are in 
immediate contact are gentlemen.” 





Chapter XL. 


HOW (NOT) TO OBTAIN “PORRIDGE ” — PROSPECTING FOR A PLAN OF ESCAPE — TOO 
MUCH HEAT EVAPORATES THE IDEA — DESPAIR DEMANDS DEATH OR LIBERTY — 
OLD VARNEY, THE SNORER — I DIG OUT BRICKS IN SEARCH OF PORRIDGE, BUT 
FIND CHAINS — OFFICIAL “ INVESTIGATION ” WITH A VENGEANCE—CHAINED — 
BREAD AND WATER—AM FOUND INSENSIBLE — AN ELECTRIC SHOCK — HOW A 
CONVICT CAN PROVE SICKNESS NOT TO BE SHAMMED — UNDER OBSERVATION — 
IN “HOT WATER” — A COLD WATER SHOCK—“ OLD ” BONES — TRANSPORTED 
TO DARTMOOR. 



NOW come to an important epoch in my prison life. 


_±_ After the failure of my plan to escape, dyspeptic troubles 
prevented me from retaining or getting the necessary amount 
of nutriment from the ordinary prison diet. I had spoken to 
the medical officer on several occasions, and he had said that 
they did not put those suffering from rheumatism or dyspep¬ 
sia under hospital treatment. It occurred to me that the 
penal-class diet would be better for my case, and I applied to 
him, explaining that I had always been fond of porridge, and 
felt sure the two pints per day allowed as part of that diet 
would do me more good than all the other prison food. He 
replied: “ I would like to give you porridge, but cannot do so 
except as a penalty or punishment diet.” 

My mind was so unbalanced by the mental and physical 
troubles of the past few months that I at once resolved to 
do something by which I should incur a sufficient penalty to 
ensure my being put on porridge. Therefore, on returning to 
my cell I began to study upon a plan to bring about the de¬ 
sired result. In my then state of ignorance regarding the 
severe penalties inflicted for slight irregularities, I imagined 
that three days bread and water in a dark cell without a bed,, 
was a severe punishment. 


*■ 


( 437 ) 



438 


UP THE FLUE. 


Owing to my sufferings from cold, Dr. Clarke had ordered 
me to be removed into a cell next to the large flue which led 
from the furnace beneath. The cell wall which formed one 
side of the flue was always so hot that it was not comfortable 
to hold the hand against it very long, and on close examin¬ 
ation I noticed that some of the bricks did not appear to be well 
cemented. “ Here goes for some porridge,” thought I. I there¬ 
fore took my tin knife and worked out the plaster around 
the top and ends of one brick, then watching an oppor¬ 
tunity when a gang of men were coming in from exercise, I 
knocked it, and a second, loose with a few blows of the three- 
legged stool, and at once set the table in front of the hole and 
sat down pretending to read. I was no sooner seated than a 
warder came to the door, looked through the spy-hole, and, 
seeing me quiet, evidently thought his ears must have de¬ 
ceived him, and passed along to the next cell. My original 
plan had been to let the warder “ cop ” me in the act, but as 
soon as I saw the bricks come loose so easily, it flashed 
through my mind that I might get up the flue after the fire 
was extinguished in the spring; therefore, I took precautions 
not to be discovered until I had satisfied myself if such a plan 
was among the possibilities. After all was quiet again I 
removed the two bricks and covered them up under the pile 
of oakum. My slate had a wooden frame, and with a slate 
pencil I drove the peg out of one corner, removed the slate, 
and pulled the four pieces out straight, by which meaps I had 
a good measuring rod. Within the first course'of bricks was 
an inch of air space, then came the wall of the flue which was 
composed of a layer of fire-brick. There were some crevices 
in this, and I pushed the rod through until it touched the op¬ 
posite side, which proved the flue to be fifteen inches inside. 
I had no sooner put the frame back on the slate than steps 
approached my door. I shoved the table in front of the hole, 
picked up a book as the door was thrown open, and the 
assistant doctor came in, followed by the usual retinue of 
warders. After asking me a few questions as to my health, 


CHANCES OF SUCCESS CONSIDERED. 439 

food, etc., he departed, much to my relief, for while he was 
speaking I cast a furtive glance at the oakum and I saw one 
corner of a brick protruding. I put the bricks back in their 
place, filled bread dough into the crevices in lieu of mortar, 
then with whitewash scraped from the walls I whitened it so 
that it looked the same as the rest of the wall. 

When in the yard at exercise I calculated the height of 
the chimney, which was about sixty feet. For several days I 
turned the matter over in my mind but could come to no con¬ 
clusion. At the best it would be a “forlorn hope” affair. 
There was scarce an hour in the day that some one did not 
look in the spy-hole to see what I was at, as the Newgate 
affair previously described had made me a suspicious charac¬ 
ter in the way of escapes. At night the warder on duty was 
supposed to peer into my cell every hour. The gas was left 
burning above the door for that purpose. 

Under such circumstances I should have been obliged to 
dig out two layers of brick and make a hole large enough to 
let me into the flue, ascending which I would perhaps be 
stopped by iron bars laid across at the level of each story 
and at the top of the chimney. But if the flue should be 
unobstructed so that I reached the roof, I must descend about 
fifty feet into the yard which a watchman patroled, cross this 
and scale a brick wall thirty feet high, from which I must 
drop into the street—into the arms of a policeman! Besides, 
I must not wear the prison clothes, but make some sort of 
garments out of my bed blankets or sheets beforehand, and 
conceal them in my cell until the moment for action. To 
accomplish all this I had a strip of tin for a knife, a wooden 
spoon, and a needle with plenty of thread. My sufferings 
and solitary confinement had brought me to that desperate 
state in which I was willing to risk my life for a change — a 
change at any price, even for the worst. After revolving the 
subject for some days I determined that there was a chance 
of success, for at night the watchman did not peer through 
the spy-hole sometimes from midnight until 4 a . m ., and I 


440 


THE TWO BRICKS 


thought probable that the yard patrol would be snug in a corner 
fast asleep; for as a rule prison warders take it easy and 
shirk every duty they safely can in revenge for being paid 
but a mere pittance. It is very difficult to catch one of these 
old soldiers or sailors asleep on duty. I have known a num¬ 
ber who would sleep hours in an upright position, and one at 
Dartmoor Prison — an old soldier of the Indian mutiny — 
named Varney, who while on night duty in my ward used to 
sleep, snoring so loudly as to awaken me. Suddenly he would 
break off in the middle of a snore and shout, “ All right, 
sir! ” to the governor, chief, or orderly officer, as either made 
the customary rounds. Within a minute I would hear him 
snoring as if he had not been disturbed. It was well-known 
to the authorities that old Varney slept on duty, and for years 
they had been trying to “ cop ” him ; they could get near 
enough to hear him snore, but instantly came the “ All right, 
sir,” he giving the customary military salute without moving 
from his upright position. 

But to return from my digression. I determined to 
attempt to carry out the plan of escape as soon as the fur¬ 
nace fire was put out in the spring, provided I could get the 
layer of fire-bricks loosened. In order to set my mind at rest 
on this point, I removed the two bricks and tried to work one 
of the small crevices between the fire-brick larger with my 
tin knife. This would not make the least impression on them, 
and on closer examination I saw that the extreme heat had 
baked the fire-brick together so that it looked to be nearly as 
hard and impenetrable as a wall of iron. 

At once I abandoned all hope of escape in that direction, 
and reverted to the plan of procuring porridge by letting 
them discover the loosened bricks. I had no idea as to the 
penalty for attempting to escape, but was satisfied that no 
one could suspect me of being simple enough to get into a 
red-hot flue. Taking out the two bricks I thought would 
be a sufficient offense to get me put on the porridge diet. I 
therefore laid the bricks back in the hole and sat on my stool 
by the side of it and picked at it with my tin knife. 



% 















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































VISIT BY THE GOVERNOR , ET AL. 


441 


Shortly I heard the slide over the spy-hole move, and felt 
that the warder was peering into my cell. He left, and in 
five minutes came with the principal warder, who unlocked 
the door and came in. Seeing the bricks loose he pulled them 
out on the floor to make the thing look as bad as possible, and 
asked me what made me do it. I told him what the doctor 
had said in reply to my application for porridge. They went 
away, locking me in again, and in about ten minutes I heard 
a heavy tramping over the stone floor of the corridor. My 
cell door was flung open as the warder shouted “ Atten¬ 
tion ! ” and in came the governor, followed by the chief and 
several other warders. 

“ What do you mean by this sort of work ?” the governor 
demanded. 

1 answered the same as I had done to the warder. He 
stepped outside of the cell and told the warder to bring me 
along, and started up the corridor. I followed in escort of 
the warders, and was locked up in another cell. I had been 
under the doctor’s care on what is called prison treatment, 
and the next morning the assistant doctor came in, had me 
stripped, and then sounded my lungs and made some exam¬ 
ination of my legs. I was too “ fresh ” then to know that 
such an examination was to enable him to report to the gov¬ 
ernor how much punishment I could endure. During this 
examination the doctor said : 

“ Well, you have done it this time; what made you act so 
foolish ? ” 

1 told him I was suffering so much from the good-conduct 
diet, and knowing that the penal-class or porridge diet would 
be much better for me, I had determined to get it at all haz¬ 
ards, for I could not go on as at present. 

“ Well,” he replied, “ I am sorry for you; but your chest 
and legs are sound, and it is not in my power to save you from 
going before the director [designated in the United States 
state prison inspector].” 

I did not, through ignorance, appreciate the gravity of his 


442 


THE DIRECTOR S SENTENCE. 


last remark, but was soon put in the way of doing so. About 
noon my cell door was thrown open, I was ordered to 
“ come on,” and taken to what proved to be the governor’s 
office. But it was not that official who was to do for me, his 
accustomed place being occupied by the director. The gov¬ 
ernor, his clerk, and the deputy governor, were seated near by, 
while the chief warder, one or two principals, and several ward¬ 
ers of a lower grade were standing in waiting, besides three 
or four who surrounded me to protect their superiors from so 
desperate a character as myself; at least, that is just how it 
looked and appeared to be, in order to give color to the false 
trash with which I have reason to believe the director had been 
stuffed full. I had been on one occasion taken before the 
governor,'who warned me that I should be severely punished 
unless I picked more oakum than it was possible for me to 
pick, but I was totally unprepared to meet so potent an 
authority as the director, and what followed remains indelibly 
imprinted in my memory. 

“ You are charged with attempting to escape. What have 
you to say for yourself ? ” asked the director. 

I repeated what I had said to the governor, and added 
that if he would examine the condition of the flue, he would 
ascertain that it was constantly so hot that anyone getting 
into it would be burned to death, also that it would require a 
sledge-hammer to break through the fire-brick lining — that 
even if such obstacles were overcome, and there were no grat¬ 
ings in the flue to prevent me from gaining the top, I must 
get from the roof into the yard, and scale the wall unobserved 
by the watchmen — and finally assured him that any man in 
his senses, after having removed the outer course of bricks, 
would see that escape in that way was not among the 
possibilities. 

No heed was paid to this, but the director immediately 
sentenced me as follows : 

“ I 'ought to have you flogged, but as the doctor says you 
are not in a state of health to permit, I sentence you to under- 


DESPERATION. 


443 


go ten days bread-and-water diet, six months chains and 
ankle-irons [see illustration in explanatory chapter] and to 
wear the yellow parti colored dress during the period of six 
months.” 

I was led from his presence stupefied. I had obtained the 
porridge diet with a vengeance! Without delay I was 
inducted into the yellow and buff dress; the blacksmith came 
and riveted heavy band-irons around my ankles, and did not 
do his work any too gently. These were connected by a 
heavy chain, about a yard in length, and the whole weighed 
some sixteen pounds. I was then put into a cell in the base¬ 
ment, which had nothing within the bare whitewashed walls 
save a raised bench on one side, with a wooden head-piece for 
a pillow at one end, and the smoothed section of a. tree 
imbedded on end in the asphalted floor at the other for a 
table. I thought my condition bad enough before, but now I 
felt that I had reached the very last stage of degradation 
except flogging — and I am free to say that, had they flogged 
me, there is no doubt I should have been put into a state of 
mind that would have led to murder. I paced restlessly 
about the cell, dragging the clanking chain. I felt that my 
ankles were disgracedthe irons gnawed into my soul, as they 
soon did into my flesh. I dashed my head, in wild despair, 
against the wall, and madly raved at such injustice. The 
solid walls, before my wavering sight, appeared unrolled, and 
showed me mocking demons, to whom my mental pangs gave 
fresh delight. I shook my clenched hands on high, and 
cursed these and the Ruler of the Universe for having per¬ 
mitted me to come into existence. 

The assistant warder, a kind man, came at regular hours 
with the few ounces of bread (one pound per day) and to see 
if the water-jug was empty. On these occasions he tried to 
cheer me up, but I paid no heed, and for four days I ate none 
of the bread, and did not even moisten my lips with water.. 

The warder afterwards told me that on the fifth day he 
found me lying senseless on the floor, and that I did not show 


444 


ELECTRIC AND OTHER TESTS. 


any signs of life except faint breathing for the next week, 
and that they kept me alive by pouring beef-tea down my 
throat through a rubber tube. About this time I remember 
seeing the medical officer, Dr. Vane C. Clarke, leaning over and 
looking at me with eyes expressive of pity and sympathy. 
Gradually I recovered my powers of observation, and found 
that they were giving me a shock of electricity from a power¬ 
ful battery, which had no effect on my legs, but as they applied 
it to other parts of the body it caused the most excruciating 
pain, and shook me as if it would tear every bone out of my 
body. The irons and chain were still on. The legs of the 
breeches which are worn with irons are open on the outside, 
and when on are fastened by buttoning up both sides, so that 
they are easily taken off at night without removing the irons, 
and the stockings can be slipped down inside the iron bands 
and taken off. As these, and every article of clothing and 
underclothing, except shirt, must be put outside of the cell at 
night, the unfortunate wretch must sleep, if he can, with the 
iron bands against his bare ankles. 

There are constantly so many convicts shamming sickness 
in order to escape hard labor and to obtain admission to the 
Infirmary, that they may have better* food, and the doctors 
have been so often deceived, that they are forced to be very 
circumspect, and, except in cases where the disease manifests 
itself unmistakably, they are obliged to subject every appli¬ 
cant to severe and sometimes terrible ordeals in order to test 
the genuineness of the case. Indeed, it not infrequently hap 
pens that men get no help until (excuse the “ bull ”) they 
prove that they are really sick by dying. I have known sev¬ 
eral such cases. ’ 

For the reasons above referred to I was subjected to 
applications of the battery and various other tests for three 
weeks, when, to my inexpressible relief, the blacksmith came 
and with a cold-chisel and hammer cut the rivets and re¬ 
moved the irons, although in doing it he nearly broke my 
ankles. As soon as these were off, the warder of the In- 


IN AN OBSERVATION-CELL. 


445 


firmary came and removed me to that place, when I was 
put in one of the observation-cells, on a wide bedstead which 
contained a good spring-bed. 

This observation-cell was about ten by twelve feet square, 
with the usual spy-hole in the door. In the ceiling was fixed 
a plate of glass, and the room overhead was so arranged that 
persons there could see all that passed below, but the man in 
the observation-cell beneath could not see them nor know 
when he was being watched. Indeed, any queries as to what 
the glass was in the ceiling for, elicited the false information 
that it was originally intended to light the cell with a gas¬ 
light above the plate, but it was found it did not work as well 
as the old plan. This was to allay any suspicions and put the 
occupant off his guard. 

At Woking the ward in which I stayed for a year was in 
charge of Assistant Warder Joseph Matthews. At the time 
of which I am writing he was located at the Pentonville 
prison, and he used to tell me about what happened while I 
was in that observation cell. He said that he was put on 
night duty in the room above me, and for six weeks from 6 
p. m. till 6 a. M., his eyes were constantly fixed on me, and 
that another assistant warder was on duty for the same 
purpose daytimes. Nothing having been reported to the 
medical officer regarding me that was inconsistent with 
the nature of my reputed malady, at the end of that time 
the special watching was given up. He said my case attract¬ 
ed much attention among the .prison authorities, and that 
frequently the governor, doctors, and others would come in 
and peer down on me and ask him how I was going on. 
During all this time I was subjected to daily shocks with the 
battery, causing unspeakable torture. 

One day the doctor came and (unknown to me) had the 
bath-tub which was next door filled with hot water, which, 
by a thermometer, was but a degree or two below the scalding 
point. In the meantime the assistant warders had stripped 
me naked, and then picking me up by the shoulders and feet, 


446 


TORRID AND FRIGID . 


carried and dropped me like a lobster into the hot bath, in 
the hope that if I were shamming inability to walk, the sudden 
scald would make me jump out. I felt as if every inch of 
skin was coming off, and made out to raise myself into a 
sitting posture, and there I sat in the hottest spot I had ever 
known. The doctor made these tests more to satisfy the 
governor than himself, and seeing that this had failed, I was 
lifted out and placed in a chair with my back to the door, and 
instantly there came crashing into the small of my back from 
a liose-pipe a stream of ice-cold water — for it was in Jan¬ 
uary. After it was played on till I felt myself congealing into 
solid ice, I was put back to bed. The medical officer having 
now satisfied all possible requirements, gave me every atten¬ 
tion. I had eaten next to nothing for some weeks, although 
ever since the chains had been removed he had ordered what¬ 
ever he thought I could relish. 

The Governor of Pentonville in 1873 bore the patronymic 
of Bones, but as he was disgusted with being called “ Old 
Bones,” he had taken his wife’s name, which I cannot now 
recall. At this prison I had little opportunity of taking his 
measure, except to notice his pompous manner, his fond¬ 
ness for the title of Colonel — he had filled that office in the 
militia — and his haughty, overbearing, and despotic demeanor 
towards prisoners. I was transferred from Dartmoor to 
Woking prison in November, 1881, where I saw a good deal 
and heard more of him for some years until he quit the 
service. 

I have said elsewhere that all prisoners were sent away 
from Pentonville and Millbank prisons at the expiration of 
their nine months’ probation. Therefore, on the 20th of 
February, 1873,1 was handcuffed and taken from the obser¬ 
vation-cell, driven in a cab to the station, put into a car, and 
after an all-night ride, arrived in Plymouth, where a con¬ 
veyance was waiting in which I was transported about sixteen 
miles to Dartmoor prison. About 9 o’clock A. M. the ’bus 
stopped at a small wayside inn long enough for the warders 


DARTMOOR INFIRMARY . 


447 


to breakfast. On the whole journey the warders treated me 
very kindly, and here they took me into the inn, and out of his 
own purse the principal paid for a pint of hot milk to wash 
down the dry bread which had been brought for my break¬ 
fast, also giving me three or four lumps of loaf sugar left over 
from their breakfast, the last that I tasted for the ensuing 
fourteen years. Had those acts of kindness to a suffering 
man become known, the warder might have been pun¬ 
ished by fine or expulsion from the service. When arrived 
within the walls of Dartmoor the handcuffs were removed, 
and I was taken into the reception-room, a dreary-looking 
place, where, after waiting two or three hours, the doctor 
came in and ordered me to bed in the Infirmary. 


Chapter XL1. 


DARTMOOR CONVICT ESTABLISHMENT — PRISON ASSOCIATIONS — NIBLO CLARK — HIS 
STORY — STEALS TWO COATS—TAKES REFUGE ON THE ROOFS—A DARING LEAP 
— A TERRIFIED WOMAN — FIFTEEN YEARS FOR “CHEEKING ” THE JUDGE —THE 
“PIPPS ” —HE IS AMBUSHED BY THE MEDICAL OFFICER —WORK ON THE DART¬ 
MOOR BOGS — CONVICTS ESCAPE UNDER COVER OF THE FOG. 

T HE Dartmoor convict establishment is composed of eight 
large prisons, surrounded by a stone wall twenty-five or 
thirty feet high, each prison being also separately enclosed. 
Dartmoor, in Devonshire, consists of a large tract of treeless, 
boggy land, which until within a few years was considered 
worthless for farming purposes. I was informed that it 
belonged to the Prince of Wales. During the wars with 
Napoleon the First, several buildings, with a capacity for 
10,000 men, were erected on the site of the present convict 
establishment for the incarceration of French prisoners of war. 
The story told me about the establishment of a station for 
convicts here is that it was done in order to make the prop¬ 
erty owned by the Prince of Wales valuable without expense 
to him. The site on which the prisons are located is on the 
highest part of the moor, about seventeen hundred feet above 
the sea, and is an extremely desolate place. Westerly winds 
bring the clouds saturated with warm moisture from the gulf 
stream, which strike this high land and empty floods of rain, 
hail, snow, or sleet, according to the season, and at times all 
within the same day, so that clear weather is the exception. 
The prisoners who work on the bogs are provided with two 
suits of clothes, so that when they come in from work, soak¬ 
ing wet, they may have a dry suit. These are employed on 
the bog in ditching, draining, and burying the great rocks and 

( 448 ) 






























BOGS AND FOGS. 


449 


boulders with which its surface is covered. If my memory is 
not at fault these prisons were opened in 1852, and since then 
the labor of the convicts has made many hundreds of acres of 
valuable farming land out of a tract supposed to be worthless. 
It is an inhospitable climate, and the worst possible place for 
a convict establishment. With the exception of a short time 
in the summer, there are frequent dense fogs which prevent 
the men from being taken out to work, the expenses going on 
just the same when the warders and convict workers are idle. 

The bog for some distance around the prisons having been 
reclaimed, some of the gangs work one to two miles distant. 
Oftentimes the weather is clear in the morning, and the 
warders march their parties out as usual, only to find a few 
hours later themselves and their men enveloped in a dense 
fog. Each party is accompanied by three or four men known 
as “ civil guards,” who are armed with repeating carbines. 
The guards are posted around the convict laborers who are, at 
times, scattered some distance apart. As soon as the princi¬ 
pal in charge sees a fog coming he collects his men and calls 
the guards near, but at times the fog sweeps along before this 
can be accomplished. 

That is an opportunity that some men cannot resist, and 
they make a run for liberty, sometimes getting clear off, in 
most cases, to be picked up a few days later half starved. 
Sometimes, indeed, they are forced by hunger to give them¬ 
selves up. What makes it so difficult for prisoners (even 
under such apparently favorable conditions) to escape is, that 
every inhabitant in the surrounding country is on the lookout, 
in the hope of gaining the standing offer of £5 reward for the 
recapture of escaped convicts. 

Some who had friends arranged with a warder to see or cor¬ 
respond with them, who for a small sum would assist in pre¬ 
paring an escape. I knew a man at Dartmoor, by the name 
of Britain, for whom an assistant warder secreted a suit of citi¬ 
zen’s clothes out on the bog. One morning, a few days later, 
he and another man started, both disappearing like phantoms, 
29 


450 


PRISON FELLOWSHIP. 


in the fog before the guards could fire. Instead of making 
directly for his secreted clothes, Britain crept under a small 
bridge, where he was soon discovered and marched into his 
cell, which was next to mine, and gave me full particulars. 
Two days later the other man came back to the prison, hav¬ 
ing been all that time wandering over Dartmoor bogs without 
food. 

The Dartmoor infirmary is in No. 1, the oldest of the build¬ 
ings, having been built by the French prisoners of war. In 
the basement and first floor are cells about ten feet square 
which are used for hospital patients, who from any cause are 
not permitted to be placed in the large association rooms 
overhead. Notwithstanding my physical state, on account 
of my alleged attempts to escape I was placed in one of the 
cells. 

All association of convicts with each other is destructive. 
At the time to which I have brought my narrative I had but 
a dim idea of the important bearing which this fact has on 
the possibility of reforming convicts; still I was of the im¬ 
pression that under the circumstances it would be best for me 
to have nothing whatever to do with my fellow-prisoners. It 
is clear to me, and the sequel will show that had I rigidly 
adhered to this resolution, there is little doubt but that I 
would have been sent home many years before I was. 

In the corridor where I was located the cells had sheet- 
iron partitions, the upper two feet of which were perforated 
with one-quarter inch holes to give a good circulation through 
the whole tier; and any occupant had only to stand on his 
deal table and peer through these holes to see all that was 
going on in the adjoining cells. They could also whisper 
with each other, and at certain times, or when either one of 
certain assistant warders was in charge, they could and did 
talk and shout to each other all down the corridor. 

My cell was at the far end of the corridor, and the man in 
the next cell, Niblo Clark, was a “ character.” I was no 
sooner locked in my cell and left on my bed in solitude, as I 


A CHARACTER. 


451 


supposed, than I heard a voice in suppressed tones, say: 
“ Hello ! where did you come from ? Are you a new chum, 
and how long have you got ?” and a dozen other questions in 
a breath. -1 did not answer, nor did I respond to his numer¬ 
ous attempts the ensuing five or six weeks to open conversa¬ 
tion. As I was never taken out of my cell, except to the 
bath-tub close by, and the cell was so dark that I could not 
see to read when the sun did not shine, the solitude became 
unbearable, so much so that my resolution of non-intercourse 
gave way, and I replied to him. The ice once 
broken there was no end, and he jabbered 
nearly every moment when he was not asleep, 
relating every event of his life, a sketch of 
which may not be uninteresting here, as he 
is a representative of a large class who fill 
the prisons. 

Niblo Clark was the son of “ poor but re¬ 
spectable parents,” who lived in London. 

From early childhood he had been permitted 
to play in the street, and by the time he was 
eight or nine years of age he used to run 
away from home for two or three days at a 
time, sleeping with his chums in any nook 
or corner they could find, and pilfering to 
appease their hunger. At about fourteen, his 
father procured him a place in a small drug 
shop, which he did not retain long before he escaped from a 

° . . REFORMATORY. 

was detected by his master appropriating 
small sums. For this he was brought before a magistrate 
and sent to a reformatory school, from which he escaped 
within a few months. While at the reformatory he had 
learned nothing but evil, and on his return to London he 
plunged at once into, what was at the time a favorite haunt 
for thieves, Drury Lane. He was soon arrested for sneak¬ 
ing something from a shop door, and sent to jail for six 
months. He said they set him at picking oakum, and pun- 



452 


TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS IN PRISON. 


ished him on bread and water for not doing the allotted task, 
till he was nearly dead from starvation, and that the ordinary 
allowance of food for full labor was only half enough. How¬ 
ever, he lived it through, and at fifteen was discharged with a 
few shillings. He then took up thieving as a profession, and 
would not have earned an honest living had he the opportunity. 

Within a few weeks he received his first penal term, which 
was five years at Chatham, where he divided his time be¬ 
tween the punishment cells and the hospital, preferring to 
“ do ” bread and water till so sick or exhausted that the doc¬ 
tor was obliged to take him in and put him on hospital diet 
for a few days. This he regarded as a full compensation 
for his sufferings in the punishment-cells, and from that 
time on fpr twenty-seven years, until the completion of his 
last term in 1887, an imprisonment of three penal terms — 
five, seven, and fifteen years each — he had kept on that plan 
of shamming and deception which had become to him second 
nature. 

He got his third penal term of fifteen years in 1873, for 
stealing two coats a few months previous to my trial. His 
account of his last arrest, the general correctness of which I 
have no doubt, was substantially as follows: 

“ I was going along Cheapside late one night, and came to 
where a new building was being erected, next to which was 
a tailor’s shop. I climbed over the boarding and up into the 
second story of the new building, from which I got upon the 
roof of an addition to the tailor’s shop. I found a window 
opening on the roof which was not fastened, and creeping 
through 1 got down into the front shop, and by the dim light 
reflected from the street lamps I collected a lot of things and 
tied them up in a bundle, which I put up within reach of the 
window. Seeing two nice coats hanging on a nail, I thought 
they were just what I wanted — put them both on and climbed 
up through the window. As I turned to reach in for the 
bundle, I saw a man come into the shop from a side door, he 
having been aroused by some noise. Upon seeing me in the 


ALMOST A TRAGEDY. 


453 


window, he shouted : ‘ Hello ! what are you doing there ? 9 
Without stopping to answer or to get the bundle, I scrambled 
back into the new building and got safely into the street with 
both the coats still on. I had not gone far before I met two 
bobbies, and like a fool as soon*as I was past them got fright¬ 
ened and began to run. This they noticed, and at once gave 
chase. I ran into a back alley, and climbed over into the back¬ 
yard of one of a block of dwelling-houses. The policemen got 
around the corner soon enough to see me disappear over the 
fence, so I climbed on top of a great water-cistern, raised a 
window through which I climbed, and then shutting, passed 
up to the roof through the skylight. From behind a chimney 
I watched the movements of the bobbies who could not see 
me, but knowing I was in the block one of them remained on 
guard while the other went for assistance, and soon returned 
with a number who surrounded the block. After searching 
all the back yards until nearly daylight, they concluded I 
must have got into one of the houses, and as it grew light, 
these were searched in vain. I had retired to the far end, 
where the block of houses bordered in a narrow lane, which 
obstructed further progress in that direction. While consid¬ 
ering what to do in such an emergency, some one in the street 
caught sight of me, and soon I saw a policeman’s head pop¬ 
ping up through the trap-door. In a moment several were 
on the roof and advancing toward me. I got close to the end, 
and saw a window open in a house on the opposite side of the 
lane, a few feet lower than the spot on which I stood. With¬ 
out hesitation I leaped, luckily reaching the window-sill, and 
swung myself in. There were hundreds watching me, and 
when they saw me make the fearful leap, they no doubt 
expected to see me dashed to pieces on the pavement. As I 
entered the room in this unusual manner, an old woman who 
was In bed began to scream; I hastened down the stairs, but 
before I had got far a bobby met and collared me.” 

Strange as it may seem, all this time Niblo Clark had not 
attempted to get rid of the stolen coats, but had them on 


454 


NIBLO'S “TWIST: 


when arrested! The officers who pursued him had no idea 
of what he had done, and had a long hunt before they found 
the owner to identify the garments. I asked him why he did 
not throw them away, and he replied that they were the best 
he had ever “ owned,” and fitted him so nicely he could not 
bear to part with them — another instance to prove that 
“ something ” always happens. 

On account of his previous convictions the judge gave 
him ten years, but as Clark began at once to “ cheek ” him, 
he withdrew that sentence and raised it to fifteen years, every 
day of which he served and completed in the spring of 1887. 
I have as little doubt that he is now doing his fourth term as 
I have that he will die the same wretched death in prison as 
others whom I have known. 

It was very amusing to see Niblo Clark, sitting at work or 
marching at exercise, about three times a minute give his 
head and neck a peculiar twist, like that of a hen with the 
pips. He claimed to have the asthma and a combination of 
all throat and chest diseases, of which this twist was the 
external sign — certainly the doctors had never been able to 
discover an interior sign of any complaint save that he 
appeared to be “ constitutionally tired.” Niblo was a sort of 
prison newspaper, for, according to his own accounts, he 
knew all that had happened, all that was going to happen, 
and many things that could never happen, about the prison. 
The authorities might as well try to stop the wind from blow¬ 
ing as to stop his tongue. He would shout to a friend at the 
other end of the ward, telling him all his secrets, and how he 
imposed on the doctors, with no thought as to whether any 
authority was listening or not. 

One evening the medical officer happened to come into 
the ward, and, hearing Niblo’s voice, he walked lightly and 
stopped in front of my cell, which was next to Niblo’s, but 
out of his sight. There he stood, hearing Niblo relate to his 
friend down the ward all about how he had taken the doctors 
in for the previous ten years. When there came a pause the 


A BIT OF FUN. 




455 

doctor suddenly put in his oar: “ Well, Niblo,” said he, “ You 
have been giving me an interesting story, but it is quite 
unlike what you tell me ordinarily,” and the doctor went 
tramping out of the ward, leaving Niblo in a state of speech¬ 
less consternation. After a few minutes he recovered his 
tongue, and remarked: “ By jingo! who’d have thought the 
doctor was there!” “I did,” said I, “for I had to stuff a 
sheet into my mouth to keep from roaring while I saw him 
listening.” 

















Chapter XLII. 


DR. POWER — GOVERNOR HARRIS — HARD LIFE AND TERRIBLE DEATH OF AN ITAL¬ 
IAN CONVICT — LORD KIMBERLY IN MY CELL — PHILLIPS, THE CONVICT IMPOS¬ 
TOR— A PERAMBULATOR — INGRATITUDE — ANOTHER IMPOSTOR “ RAISED ” BY 
GALVANIC SHOCKS — BOOZER’S STORY — SOAP AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET — HOW 
CONVICTS GET INTO THE HOSPITAL — BEEFSTEAKS AS BREASTPLATES—“RE¬ 
LIABLE” CONVICTS ON THE LOCK-OUT—“WHOPPER” — HOW TO GET A GOOD 
DINNER IN PRISON — SACRIFICING AN EYE FOR A FEW WEEKS IN HOSPITAL — 

TAGGART, A PRISON “FAKER”—AN INCURABLE ABSCESS. 

/ - 

W ITH one exception I never saw among prison authori¬ 
ties a nobler-hearted Christian gentleman than Hr. P. 
Power, the medical officer in charge of Dartmoor prison at 
the time of my arrival there. He remained until the begin¬ 
ning of 18T8, when he got transferred to Portsmouth prison, 
where he still was up to the time I left England, scattering 
benefits on all the miserables with whom he came in con¬ 
tact, either in or out of prison. 

One thing is certain : Dr. Power was not cruel enough to 
the prisoners to suit some warders and others. This truly 
Christian medical officer never resented anything. On one 
occasion a prisoner, to whom he had refused some application, 
struck him a heavy blow between the eyes, which blackened 
both. Every one expected that the offender would be flogged 
and put in chains. But no ; the doctor said that the man who 
would strike one who was acting for his benefit could not be 
in his right mind, and that he should not be punished. 

In the second cell from mine — the one adjoining Niblo 
Clark’s — was an Italian, who, when I arrived, was raving 
night and day. His right arm had been cut off at the elbow, 
and he was serving out a term of twenty-five years. The fol- 

( 456 ) 




THE CASE OF THE ITALIAN. 


457 


station, Woking 


lowing is the story of his prison life as I had it from various 
sources: 

Some years previously he had been convicted of an attempt 
to stab some person in an affray, and received a sentence of 
five years’ penal servitude. Upon the completion of his nine 
months’ probation at Millbank prison, on account of the state 
of his health he was sent to the invalid 
prison. Here he under¬ 
went a great deal of pun¬ 
ishment, which is almost 
certain to be the case with 
foreigners who cannot 
speak the language. Eng¬ 
lishmen of the class from 
which warders are usually 
taken are ignorant, preju¬ 
diced, and narrow-minded, 
as a matter of course. They 
think the customs and man¬ 
ners of their own country 
must be right, and anything 

different wrong, in consequence of which they are not capa¬ 
ble of making any allowance for the idiosyncrasies of a man 
who has been brought up in another land, amid surroundings 
totally unlike their own. 

In consequence of this, the treatment of the Italian (who was 
not a habitual criminal) in the rough, arbitrary, and overbear¬ 
ing way to which the great majority of English convicts have 
been accustomed, would incite him to violence. If, under a 
feeling that he was being grossly insulted without cause, any 
prisoner once gave way and lifted his hand, woe to him; his 
time on earth would not be long, or he would be served as 
this Italian was. 

However it came about, he believed that an official had 
caused him to undergo great suffering. This injustice, as he 
deemed it, continued for years, and worked him up to a state 



LORD KIMBERLY. 


458 


RELEASED BY DEATH. 


of mind which made him resolve to have revenge in true Ital¬ 
ian style. By some means he procured a rusty nail, ground 
it to a point, and tied it on a stick. With this impromptu 
dagger, while on parade, he rushed up to the offending officer 
and struck him a blow in the chest which penetrated through 
his clothes and pricked the skin. 

At the time when this mad freak was perpetrated he 
had but a few months to serve in order to complete his five 
years. But now he was taken out, tried, convicted, and sen¬ 
tenced to twenty-five years penal servitude, and was serving 
it out when I first saw him at Dartmoor. 

Deputy Governor Harris was appointed Governor of Dart¬ 
moor, and some of the warders had a fancy that they would 
curry favor by making it hot for the Italian. However this 
may be, it was not long before they twisted his arm — a trick 
they have — so that the doctor had to amputate it, as stated, 
at the elbow. At the time I arrived he was a raving maniac, 
and should have been sent, as were many riot so crazy, to 
a prison lunatic asylum. I do not know the reason this was 
not done, but it certainly was a remarkable circumstance 
that he was not sent. Influences were brought to bear so 
that concealments, backed by misrepresentations, ended in 
inducing the doctor to order him sent to the punishment-cells, 
where, not long after, he died. Judging by my knowledge of 
the doctor’s character, I do not believe that he ever discharged 
the man out of the hospital, and I am more inclined to give 
credence to the other account which was current, viz., that 
some officer either gave the order himself or procured it from 
higher quarters. 

Throughout the few months during which I had nothing 
to do with my fellow prisoners, the doctor treated me most 
kindly and continued to do so. The second summer I was 
taken for a month into the yard an hour each day, the rest of 
the time I lay prostrate in bed, my shoulders, knees, and 
thighs swollen to nearly double their ordinary size. For many 
months I lay at the point of death, no one believing it possible 


A TRUE NOBLEMAN. 


459 


that I could recover. The fact that the doctor certified that 
my case was genuine was reason enough why some warders, 
who were at loggerheads with him, should declare that I was 
shamming, and sufficient to cause them to make misstatements 
as to my words and acts, in order to favor that side of the 
question and influence the doctor against me. 

In the meantime a prisoner named Phillips was con¬ 
stantly running the doctor down to me, till, without the 
slightest real ground, 1 began to think he was my enemy. 
Phillips finally led me to believe that the doctor was 
doing me some injury. The governor on his rounds came 
in to see me every day, and was always very polite and 
smiling, and in my weak condition I began to make com¬ 
plaints to him against the doctor, there being no foundation 
for them but the fancies put in my head by Phillips — the 
weak state of mind to which I was reduced, making me a fit 
subject for such as he to operate upon. The governor di¬ 
rected that a statement-sheet should be given me, so that I 
could write out my complaints for the director, and this I did. 

Despite my complaints against him the doctor continued 
to treat me in the best manner, and matters run on until the 
winter of 1876-7, when one day I heard a great clattering of 
feet coming down the stone-paved corridor, and presently the 
cell door was thrown open and “ Attention ” shouted. I saw 
in the corridor the doctor, governor, deputy-governor, chief 
warder, and a retinue of warders, who all formed the suite of 
a large, fine-looking man, whom I afterwards discovered was 
no less a personage than the Earl of Kimberly, after whom 
the Kimberly diamond mine in South Africa was named, and 
who, at the time of which I am writing, held the office of Colo¬ 
nial Secretary of State. My lord entered the cell — he had to 
bend his head — closed the door behind him, came to the 
side of my bed, and in a pleasant tone of voice asked me how 
I was, and if I had any complaints to make. 1 saw that he 
must be some dignitary., and that the governor had brought 
him for the purpose of letting him hear my grumbles against 


460 


A BASE ACTION REGRETTED. 


the doctor. Really fancying at the time that I had grounds 
for complaints, I went on to state them. His manner was 
kind, and his demeanor the same as that of all other true gen¬ 
tlemen, however high their station, towards the unfortunate. 

Aside from his position as Colonial Secretary of State, he 
had been appointed one of three special commissioners to 
examine into the state of the convicts in Her Majesty’s 
prisons. I have regretted to this day, and it has been a mat¬ 
ter of wonder to me how my mind could have been so acted 
upon as to make me complain against such a noble-hearted 
man as Dr. Power, a skillful physician, who, in addition to his 
duties in the prison, had a large practice which frequently 
took him out of bed among the poverty-stricken wretches 
which abound every where in England, the direct effect of a 
cause that fills the prisons, viz., the legalized trade in beer 
and spirits. 

Phillips had been in the army, and for the offense of strik¬ 
ing an officer had been court-martialed and sentenced to 
undergo seven years penal servitude. After doing his nine 
months’ probation at Brixton, the place where military and 
naval convicts were sent to do it, he was sent to Chatham to 
complete the term. As labor, and in fact any employment, 
had never agreed with him, he suddenly became “ paralyzed ” 
in the whole right side, and pretended that he could not 
move the right arm and leg. The usual tortures were ap¬ 
plied, the battery, straight-jacket, shower-bath, etc., and as 
he stood all these for three or four months without wincing, 
or showing any other sign which would enable the doctors to 
penetrate the deception, he was sent to the Woking invalid 
station and <put into the same corridor in a cell near mine. 
I have said elsewhere that there was little restraint on talk¬ 
ing, and we could give food to one another, or write notes 
on slates and send by the “ cleaner,” who would watch an 
opportunity to shove them under the door, there having 
been left a space of four inches by the width of the door for 
the purpose of ventilation. 




IMPOSTURE. 


461 


Phillips made all the trouble he could, depending on his 
supposed physical state to escape the punishment he deserved. 
I will not relate further particulars, but conclude by relating 
that when his time was nearly served the kind-hearted doctor 
very considerately had a perambulator made, in which he 
could get about after being discharged from prison. An 
officer named Nichols, an ex-marine, was sent with him and 
assisted in lifting him into the train. On their arrival at 
Birmingham this scamp stood up on his feet, and pointing to 
the wheeled chair, said: “ Take that thing back to Dr. Power, 

and tell him to-” (an expression of course too vile to bear 

repetition). Phillips then walked out of the car and disap¬ 
peared among the crowd on the station platform. On his 
return with the chair, assistant warder Nichols, being on 
duty in my ward, gave me the particulars. 

Think what effect such an occurrence would be likely to 
have on the doctor, and what the higher authorities would 
think of him, when they were informed of the occurrence. It 
is such cases, often recurring, which cause the doctors to 
inflict, in the way of tests, unbounded sufferings on many 
genuine cases; and this one caused several invalids, of whom 
I was one, to be- put through a series of fresh tests, and it 
caused me several years of horrors. 

As an instance of how the doctors are imposed on, I give 
the following: A young man of eighteen years was suddenly 
prostrated, or, rather, prostrated himself, giving the impression 
that he had a stroke of paralysis, and as he stood the usual 
torture tests his case was considered genuine, and he remained 
in hospital, in the next cell to me. After he had lain 
in bed without speaking for six months, the medical officer 
left, and Dr. Reid, an old army doctor, came to fill the vacant 
post till a new appointment should be made. In the mean¬ 
time the man had been shifted into a cell lower down the 
ward. 

One morning I heard the buzz of the battery, and said to 
myself: “ That fellow is getting a shock.” Presently I heard 



462 


DR. REID'S HUMANITY. 


some one rushing down the ward, followed by another, and, 
looking through the four-inch strips of glass, I saw the 
“ paralyzed ” young man going past at high speed, and Dr. 
Reid close after him. Just past my cell the doctor caught 
him and asked him why he had tried to impose on the doctors. 
The young man told him in reply that the warder over his 
gang had a grudge against him, and constantly reported and 
had him punished for every trifling infraction of the rules, 
and that those whom he liked did still worse things with 
impunity. Dr. Reid listened to him, and after a moment 
said, as near as I remember: “ You are young, and I will 
give you a chance. You know that if I discharged you from 
the Infirmary you would be severely flogged, but if you will 
promise me to go on right, I will have you sent away to 
another station, where you will have an opportunity for a 
fresh start.” I did not doubt the young man’s story, and 
thought this a just and humane conclusion. 

Cases of imposture were of constant occurrence while I 
was at Dartmoor. In order to get into the hospital, men 
would bring on incurable diseases by swallowing pounded 
glass; eating soap, to bring on an appearance of atrophy; 
pushing small pieces of copper wire into the flesh, and leaving 
them there until the blood was poisoned; putting lime in the 
eyes, to bring on inflammation, etc. 

A young man known by the flash name/ of “ Boozer,” on 
account of continual boozing at the public houses whenever 
he was out of jail or prison, was in the next cell to the one 
occupied by me. It will be remembered that these had sheet- 
iron partitions, so that whispering and talk could be carried 
on with impunity. Boozer was born in the London slums, of 
drunken parents. He said he did not remember when he 
first began to drink. He went through the usual course of 
London children, who, from the time they can toddle, are left 
to gutter influences. At first, thieving for food and, as he 
grew up, to obtain the means for indulging in the accumu¬ 
lating vices, he had continued the routine through reformatory 


SELF-MAIMING. 


463 


and jail, and was now doing his third term of penal servitude. 
He was up to all the tricks and ways of how to get on through 
his period of incarceration with the performance of as little 
labor as possible. 

On arrival at Dartmoor he had been put at work in the 
quarry, but finding that too hard for him, he dropped a heavy 
stone on his foot and injured it so that the doctor was obliged 
to take him into the hospital. While there, by the time his 
foot was healed, he had eaten so much soap that he was grad¬ 
ually wasting away to a skeleton, and the doctor could not 
tell what ailed him. He finally told the doctor that he did 
not get enough to eat, and wanted to be put in the cook-house 
to work. The doctor was glad to get rid of him at any price, 
for he was pretty certain that the man was maltreating, or in 
prison slang, “ faking ” himself. Accordingly he was sent 
into the kitchen, and I saw no more of him for three months. 
One day I was sitting in the exercising-ground when a party 
of men harnessed to a cart full of coke passed by, and one of 
them—a big, burly, red-cheeked fellow, whom I failed to 
recognize on account of his fatness—bowed to me. 1 asked 
another man who it was. “ Why, that is Boozer,” he replied. 

A few days later he was again put in the next cell, and 
on asking him why he was in hospital again he said that he 
had “ faked ” his leg and it was badly swollen. I asked him 
how he did it, and he explained that he had with a needle 
drawn a thread through the flesh in his knee, and had left it 
until it had become so bad he could not bear it longer, then 
he had drawn out the thread and shown the sore to the doctor. 

He had a great deal to say about the abuses that he saw 
going on in the kitchen, and as what he said corroborates 
what I had been told by other prisoners who had worked 
there, I will give the substance of his remarks. The bread 
w r as supposed to be made from unbolted w r heat flour, or 
what in the United States is called graham flour. Instead of 
this, he said they mixed bran, middlings, and flour, some of 
which was generally musty. Having had a long experience 


464 


COOK-HOUSE EPISODES. 


of the virtue of graham bread, in America, and knowing that 
all English prisons were to be supplied with it by order of the 
chief authorities, I had often wondered why the brown bread 
actually supplied was not up to the mark, and had taken 
pains to learn all I could as to how business was carried on 
in that most important department — that of feeding the 
twenty-five thousand, more or less, of wretches in English 
prisons who were deprived of all opportunity of getting food 
for themselves. The warder in charge of the cook-house is 
called the head-cook, although he does no cooking—that 
being done by prisoners who in all probability never had any 
experience in cookery. He oversees the ten to twenty who 
do the work, and these must be what he calls reliable men — 
that is to say, men who are devoted to him, who will watch 
for him, assist him in his peccadilloes, and help to swear him 
out of any difficulty with his superiors when anything goes 
wrong. The governor, the doctors, deputy governor, and 
chief warder are the authorities whom he and his helpers 
fear, and one of the latter is always on the watch to give the 
signal when either of those are coming toward the cook-house. 
“Here comes the chief!” etc., and instantly all spring around 
lively to set everything to rights and conceal any evidences 
of irregularities and peculations. 

There is a considerable quantity of eggs, butter, sugar, etc., 
allowed by the orders of the doctors to make puddings for the 
hospital. As I said, from information derived from independ¬ 
ent sources — that of several prisoners who worked in the 
Dartmoor kitchen at various periods—it is a regular thing 
for at least one-half of those prison dainties to be made 
away with by the warder and his helpers. More than one of 
these has assured me that the warder used to cut off thick 
steaks from the best beef—that allowed for hospital beef-tea 
— and when he was ready to go home, lay them on his breast 
and button his overcoat, and thus “ get away ” with five or 
six pounds. I have been told that, before the cells were 
lighted with gas, certain warders would frequently fill the 


CONVICTS AT LABOR 
















































































































































































AN OPTICAL INCIDENT. 


465 


coat-tail pockets of their overcoats with candles. When I 
was in the dormitory at Woking prison, one Whopper sent word 
to a friend of his, who was working in the kitchen, where he 
was located. The consequence was, that the tray which con¬ 
tained our four dormitory dinners had the very best quality of 
prison rations, and on the four meat days an extra quantity of 
meat, with half a pound to a pound of melted fat. The dozen 
dinners in that tray were all alike, thus ensuring Whopper a 
“ square meal ” however they might be distributed. To do 
this a hundred other men were robbed of some portion of 
their share. A quantity of cocoa was allowed sufficient to 
make a good three-quarters of a pint for each, but chunks of 
cocoa were secretly passed all over the prison to the many 
favored ones who had a friend at court, in consequence of 
which the cocoa was weaker. 

But I have wandered from the subject of impositions on 
the doctors. Another man, whose name I cannot recollect, 
but will call Brown, was for a time in the next cell at Dart¬ 
moor. Upon inquiring, I ascertained from him that he had 
put lime in his right eye, and this had brought on something 
like a cataract, at least that was what the doctor told him it 
was. I heard the doctor ofcder the warder to see that Brown 
had no food before the operation was performed, telling him 
that this would prevent him from being sick with the conse¬ 
quence of losing the eye. The warder forgot his instructions, 
and the next morning gave him his breakfast. Brown had 
heard the doctor’s orders, and after he had eaten, asked me 
what I thought of it. I replied, that he had done very foolishly, 
and that he must tell the doctor ; but the warder would not 
allow him to do so, well knowing that he would be fined half 
a crown for breach of orders. 

About ten o’clock, he was removed from the cell into the 
large hospital dormitory where the doctor operated for the 
cataract, but during the operation, Brown was taken sick at 
the stomach, and the strain caused the eye to burst and run 
out. This warder, rather than get the operation adjourned at. 

80 


466 


INCURABLE. 


the risk of losing thirty cents out of his inadequate salary, 
caused Brown to lose his eye. A week after the operation, he 
was discharged from the hospital, and I saw nothing more of 
him for some months, at the end of which, he was again in 
the hospital totally blind. This young man of twenty, who 
had only a seven years’ term, to escape hard labor in the 
quarry deliberately risked his eyesight. This was his first 
term and he appeared to be above the average intelligence of 
prisoners. 

Another young man, named Taggart, was doing his second 
penal term, the first of five and this of seven years. He was 
in the hospital in a cell opposite mine for a number of years. 
When I left Dartmoor he was on his last year. Despite every 
effort to prevent it, he had managed to “ fake ” a sore on his 
left knee-joint, and to keep it open until the leg had become 
permanently crooked and stiff. In order to give the sore a 
chance to heal, he had been for months in an observation cell, 
like the one described in a former chapter, under watch day 
and night, but that sore would not get well. 

At other times he had been kept in a straight-jacket for 
the same purpose, but even that would not cure that abscess. 
One night he got off the straight-jacket and pushed it out 
through the open ventilator into the yard. He boasted to his 
fellow prisoners and told all about how he managed, and 
hardly denied when the doctor charged him with “ faking ” it. 
The authorities had such good proofs that he did tamper with 
it, that he was brought before the director and flogged with a 
cat-o’-nine-tails, but his back had become so tough and seamed 
by former floggings that even this extreme measure failed to 
cure his sore. 

Years after, while I was at Woking, I heard that after he 
had been set at liberty, it was not long before he was in again, 
serving a third term of ten or fifteen years, and in the Infirm¬ 
ary because of that abscess. 


Chapter XLIII. 


KILL OR CURE—PUNISHMENT CELLS—THE TAILORS’ SHOP — BEFORE THE GOV¬ 
ERNOR-BREAD AND WATER — THE CRANK — GRINDING THE WIND — PRINCI¬ 
PAL WARDER WESTLAKE — I OBTAIN “PORRIDGE” AT LAST — ON THE BARE 
BOARDS—DESPERATION — CUT MY THROAT — IN HANDCUFFS — RESCUED BY 
TEE CHAPLAIN, REV. A. H. FERRIS —A GOOD SAMARITAN — A GOVERNOR’S, CHAP¬ 
LAINS’, AND CONVICTS’ LETTERS — A PRISON “ SHAVE ” — AN ELECTRIC CAN¬ 
NONADE— IN EXTREMITY — GOVERNOR AVERY AND HIS NOBLE-HEARTED 
WIFE — WARDER WESTLAKE BROUGHT TO BOOK — A CONVICT SHOT DEAD — 
ANOTHER BADLY WOUNDED. 



FEW hours after my interview with Lord Kimberly, 


lx after he had left the prison, an order was given to 
transfer me to the punishment-cells in prison number seven. 
After having complained against the doctor, the governor 
took my case in his own hands, believing that his method 
would soon cure me. These punishment-cells contain nothing 
in the way of furniture except a raised platform of hard wood 
on one side large enough for the occupant to lie down on, with 
a piece of wood fastened at one end for a pillow. Most of 
these cells are changed into dungeons, having sheet-iron nailed 
over the windows, shutting out the light. I was put in one 
which contained a mattress and bed-blankets, a tin knife, a 
wooden spoon, a deal table, and a bench. I was put on the 
ordinary prison diet. An order was given by the governor 
that I was to be carried to the tailor shop and set to work as 
an able-bodied man. At 7 o’clock the next morning a warder 
appeared with two men from the tailor shop; one of these 
took me on his shoulders and started; half way he put me 
down, and the other took me, reached a flight of steps, and 
at last landed me on the shop floor. Having been for nearly 
five years almost continuously shut in a cell, this change 


( 467 ) 



* 

408 ROUGH TREATMENT. 

was very grateful to me. Some articles of clothing being 
given me, I sewed away as though I had been a born tailor. 
At noon I was carried back to my cell, and, as I had been 
unable to swallow any breakfast gruel, I was obliged to eat 
the prison dinner, though from former experience I had some 
misgivings as to my stomach’s ability to digest it. At 1 
o’clock I was again taken to the shop, and went on all right 
for two or three hours, by which time I became so sick that I 
could no longer retain the food eaten, as it had turned excess¬ 
ively acid. Seeing my state, the master tailor, Mr. Rayford, 
who had charge of the shop, sent me back to my cell, but the 
warder was obliged to report me for idleness, that affording 
a legal pretext for taking the next step in the drama. Ac¬ 
cordingly the next morning two warders came to my cell, 
and, each grasping an ankle, dragged me fifty yards over the 
flag-stones of the court to the door of the governor’s office. 
After lying on the stones for some time the door was thrown 
open and I was carried into his presence, when about the fol¬ 
lowing occurred: 

Governor — “ You are charged with idleness. What 
have you to say for yourself ? ” 

“ Nothing, beyond what you know from the doctor,” I 
replied. 

Governor — “ Three days bread and water and eighty- 
four remission marks.” 

As these words left his lips, I was seized by the jacket 
collar and dragged outside, then two assistant warders seized 
me, one by the ankles the other by the wrists, and carried me 
along head-first, face upward, lifting me up and bumping me 
down on the pavement at every step, at the same time the 
one behind giving me a “ helper ” in the rear every time he 
brought his right foot forward. In this way they conveyed 
me into one of the cells with the window darkened as de¬ 
scribed, and I was thrown down to lie on the bare boards until 
night, when a thin mattress and blanket were put in. Bread 
and water was no punishment to me, for I could not eat with¬ 
out distress even the pound of bread per day. 


ONE DEMD HORRID GRIND!” 


469 


When the three days were up I was taken back into the for¬ 
mer cell and put on prison diet again ; and again I was carried 
to the tailor shop to go through the same routine, including 
the bread and water. 

A third time I was brought before the governor, and he 
now tried a new plan of cure. As I had good use of my 
hands and arms he sentenced me to the crank, and I was 
taken to still another cell, and placed on a stool by the crank. 
I began turning away for dear life, and there the reader may 
leave me for the present to read a description of that wind¬ 
grinding instrument. 

The crank consists of a circular plate of iron fixed in the 
wall of the cell; through the center of this plate runs a 
spindle to which is attached a crank something like, only 
longer than that of a grindstone. Just above the center is a 
dial-plate about four inches in diameter, which shows the num¬ 
ber of the revolutions, having different pointers for the tens, 
hundreds, and thousands. Before the occupant can have his 
breakfast he must turn the handle 1,875 revolutions. His 
dinner must be earned with 5,000, and his supper with 4,000 
turns. If any one of my readers wishes to experiment on what 
amount of labor those figures represent, let him get some one 
to grind an old axe, bearing on pretty hard, while he turns 
the grindstone and counts. 

There is a loaded brake attached to the handle, so that it 
requires the application of considerable power and great endur¬ 
ance to make it spin thirty-five times a minute in order to 
earn the food in time. Few men possess patience sufficient to 
enable them to hold their temper when, after turning until 
they are breathless, they look at the dial and see that it has 
moved so very short a space of its journey around. Certainly 
it is the only example on record by which men literally earn 
their bread by grinding the wind. 

Outside of the cell, fixed in the wall ? is a dial also con¬ 
nected with the crank, so that the warder can see at a glance 
how industriously the wind-grinder is working. In case he 


470 A TIN KNIFE AND A TOUGH THROAT . 

fails to make the required number of turns, 10,875 in the 
course of the day, the warder reports him for idleness, and 
the result is three days’ bread and water, with loss, less or 
greater, of remission marks, at the discretion of the governor, 
up to a certain number. 

After my time on the crank had expired, I was put back 
in my cell and then taken to the tailor-shop again. Under 
this treatment, daily becoming weaker, and obliged to con¬ 
tinue swallowing the prison diet, the same cause produced 
like effects, and for some weeks following I was revolving 
through a circle of punishments, of which one station was the 
tailor-shop. Work was then brought to my cell, but I had 
become so weakened that I could only sew while lying on my 
back on the floor. Under these circumstances I could not do 
much,, and the principal warder, Westlake, who had charge of 
the punishment-cells, reported, me for idleness; and as the 
doctor would not permit even the governor to put me on 
bread and water again, when I was brought before him he 
put me on penal-class diet—porridge at last! the very diet 
I had four years previously failed to obtain at Pentonville, 
getting chains instead. 

Ever since I had been transferred from the hospital, every 
article of bedding had been removed from my cell, so that I 
was obliged to lie all day on the planks; and the warders all 
having u got the tip,” judging from my treatment, it is not 
surprising that in other respects they were not as gentle as 
they might have been. At all events, I had got into a state 
of mind and body which made me feel that death was far 
preferable to such a life. In my desperation and despair I 
took the tin strip used for a knife, and after sharpening it 
against the stone wall, I tried to cut my throat, but discov¬ 
ered that it was tough — so tough that I sawed away with all 
my force for some minutes, when, by the rate at which it 
bled, I thought it was enough to put an end to my troubles. 
I lost consciousness, and when I came to myself the doctor 
was pushing a needle through to sew up the gash, the cica¬ 
trice of which is still visible. 


THE CHAPLAIN, GOD BLESS HIM! 


471 


A few days later, in Westlake’s presence, I gave utterance 
to long-repressed words expressive of my opinion regarding 
his treatment of me. He left the cell without a word, and 
shortly returned with a couple of warders to assist him to 
handcuff my hands behind my back, in which condition — a 
horrible one for a man crippled in the legs to try to sleep in — 
he left me until the next morning, when the assistant doctor 
came, Dr. Power being absent. He now had the effrontery 
to tell the doctor, in my presence, that he had been obliged 
to handcuff me to prevent me from doing myself another 
injury! It was impossible to sleep in the handcuffs, and I had 
not a wink for three days, nor did I eat one mouthful of food 
or moisten my lips with a drop of water, while undergoing so 
unjust a punishment. 

At this time Mr. Rickards, the excellent chaplain of Dart¬ 
moor prison, was absent on his annual holiday, and the Rev. 
Mr. Ferris, rector of Charlestown in 
Cornwall, was officiating in his stead. 

On the morning of the fourth day he 
was passing my cell and heard groans. 

He stopped, and after looking through 
the spy-hole, unlocked the door and 
came in — the chaplain being allowed 
a key. Upon seeing my condition 
he was horrified, being an outsider 
and not hardened to such sights, 
and went at once to see Governor 
Harris, expostulating with him for 
permitting such cruelty to a man in 
my condition. The governor sent over an order that the 
handcuffs were to be at once removed, which of course war¬ 
der Westlake was obliged to do, very much to his chagrin. 
To take it out in another way, he had me stripped, put into 
the bath, and scrubbed with a splint-broom brush, until I was 
pretty well skinned. 




472 FACSIMILE OF GOVERNOR HARRIS'S LETTER. 

The accompanying memorandum letter from Governor 
Harris may perhaps be read with interest, as a genuine prison 
document; it will certainly convince the reader that my cor¬ 
respondence was not excessive: 

No. 589d. 

OUtiub U. U. JT.) 


£tom 

The Governor , 

" a* tEj&AJL 

H. M. Prison, 





/zz dzir&ce/, 

^US<T7f ! . 47/ <JL^fC4 4^ Jvzdf 


AL>/:ya 


I regard it an honor to be able to present in this volume 
a letter from so good a man as the Rev. A. H. Ferris, 
accompanied by a truthful portrait. Readers have here an 
opportunity to look a true English Samaritan in the face. 











BEFORE THE GOVERNOR-ASSISTANT WARDER REPORTING A PRISONER FOR TALKING 



















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































■ . 

' * 

r 






' 




• * * * 






* 










































































LETTER FROM REV. A. //. FERRIS. 


473 


Charlestown, 

J AN: 3, St. Anstell, 

1888. Cornwall. 

My Dear Bid well, — Your letter came upon me like a resur¬ 
rection. I had quite given you up to the great majority, after 
reading the sad accounts of your treatment in the various news¬ 
papers. I am so glad you have recovered your health after all the 
troubles and afflictions laid upon you. How thankful you must feel 
now you are once more allowed to rest in the bosom of your own 
family and amongst your own friends. I have often thought of 
you, talked of you, and prayed for you ; but I never expected to 
hear that you were liberated, they all seemed so embittered against 
you. 

Thank you very much for your kind offer of a bed at your 
house. 1 wish I could accept it; it would give me a great deal of 
pleasure to do so, but I am sorry to say I am in great pecuniary 
difficulties just now — a friend (?) has cheated me out of £150, 
and as I am not a rich man, the loss has caused and will cause me 
great trouble. I am afraid 1 shall not be able to meet my liabili¬ 
ties this year. God help me 1 — but I must not enter into my own 
troubles. 

1 am afraid your book will be rather personal if you insert my 
photo, letter, and several lines of “abuse,” in explanation. Plain 
facts and statements of your prison experience will fetch English 
people more than anything else The true story of your sufferings 
would create deep feelings of sympathy and interest and do more to 
sell the book than whole heaps of parsons’ letters and photos. 

I am glad to be able to tell you that we have at last succeeded 
in getting that man Watson released. 1 do not know whether 
you will remember him. He was a lifer; a painter and glazier 
by trade ; crime, writing threatening letters. Twenty years the 
poor fellow has been shut up at Dartmoor, a thoroughly well 
behaved man. Never had more than one bad report, and then he 
was badgered by one of the warders. I am so thankful he is out 
at last. How like a poor little mouse just liberated from a trap he 
must feel. Please send me a copy of the book as soon as it is out. 
I dare say I could sell a few copies down here. 

You seem to be highly favoured at Hartford in having two 
such shining lights (C. D. Warner and S. L. Clemens) of the 


474 


WATSON'S LETTER. 


literary world living there. I should like to meet Mr. S. L. Clem¬ 
ens. I always enjoy his quaint, dry humor. 

I inclose photo of myself and shall be glad to have one of you. 
Don’t forget the story of the mouse, the galvanic battery torture, 
the handcuffs and chains. Above all, don’t forget to send me 
a copy of the book. 

With kind regards and all good wishes, beiieve me, 

Yours faithfully, 

(The Reverend) A. H. Ferris. 

The man Watson referred to in the foregoing letter never 
missed an opportunity to correspond with the beloved Chaplain 
Ferris, after his retirement from the service. The following 
letter, written in 1884,1 am kindly permitted to publish: 

Dear Sir, — I received your very kind and ever welcome letter 
and was very pleased to hear from you. I hope you are quite 
restored to health again, my letter being lost and my daughter 
being in a hurry to answer the governor’s inquiry, forgot to men¬ 
tion in her letter that you wrote a few lines to me and that 
it was sent in the letter that was lost. Therefore, I thought you 
might perhaps be offended with me, but my mind is at rest now 
I have heard from you. You tell me not to give up all hope yet, 
but my hope is almost dead, but still I clutch to the least hope 
whatever. I think sometimes they may perhaps liberate me when 
1 am old and worn out and no one will employ me, and only fit to 
go from a prison to a union, but they will never do men any good 
by keeping them in prison all the best of their days, for 1 
believe the longer they keep men in prison the more hardhearted 
they make them, for I believe if men were shown more mercy and 
kindness there would not be so many in prison as there are at the 
present time. I know you have tried your utmost to get me home 
to my beloved children, and I do most heartily thank you for your 
great kindness towards me, for it is a great comfort to me to know 
that 1 have one true and kind friend in this world, i must now say 
farewell, and may God bless you and grant you a long and happy 
life in his service in this world and everlasting happiness in the 
next, is the sincere prayer of your unhappy but ever faithful and 
hopeful friend* Robert Watson. Sir, would you please to acknowl 


LETTER FROM A LIBERATED MAN. 


475 

edge the receipt of this letter to my daughter with a few lines for 
myself (if not giving too much trouble, for your letters seem to 
cheer me up). Good by, and God bless you. 

Yours faithfully, 

Robert Watson. 

As a further evidence that the Rev. Ferris was notably 
the prisoner’s friend upon all occasions, I insert here another 
letter from one who was a prisoner at Dartmoor, written 
shortly after his release, which also shows conclusively that 
it is possible for a man to get into prison, and afterward 
become a useful member of society and continue to follow an 
honorable occupation. 

—, Eastcheap, 

London, E. C., 24th Feb’ry, 1885. 

Dear Sir, —You will best remember me as William-, 

formerly one of your correspondents from Dartmoor ; and much 
indebted to you for your kind search and inquiries respecting my 
dear mother, who, upon my arrival in London last December, I 
found had died only last summer , anxious to the last to hear or see 
something of me, and wondering why she had not done so. Pos¬ 
sibly you will be able now to recall the circumstances under which 
you became so interested on my behalf. . . . 

My mother was in the full possession of her senses, and com¬ 
paratively, for her years, well to the last. Had it not been for the 
inexcusable blunder of the authorities at Dartmoor in giving me 

the address of the Rev’d Mr. -, then residing at No. —, 

Frederick Crescent, Clapham Road, instead of that of my mother, 
at whose instance he wrote to me, all would have gone well, and I 
should have been in communication with her, and she free from 
the doubts and misgivings arising naturally from my silence. It is 
a most painful subject to me to dwell upon, especially too as I 
never could account for the silence with which you treated my 
letters for the last few years, the more so on account of the 
friendly interest you took in me. It is the remembrance of this 
latter feeling, that induces me again to intrude on your notice. 
I think you will be glad to hear how I am progressing, and how I 
am getting on, since my return to London. It has pleased God to 




476 


A CLERGYMAN’S HARD LOT. 


help in a manner and to a degree I could never have expected. 
The son of an old friend has taken an office in the city for me, 
furnished it, and is helping me to establish myself as an account¬ 
ant. It is hard, uphill work to secure a connexion, for all my old 
city friends are dead or retired, and a new generation has risen up, 
which I know not. And then, too, commercial matters generally 
are in a stagnant state, and very little business stirring. However, 
I have secured a standing and a start, and with industry and per- 
severance, in addition to my experience, with full trust in God, 
I look hopefully to the future. The circumstance of my having 
assumed my mother’s maiden name when the trouble fell upon me, 
now stands me in good stead, for no one here in the city knows 
of my fall. Though technically my business is that of an account¬ 
ant, I am open to transact all kinds of Agency business, and 1 
shall be very thankful if you can give me any introductions to 
Solicitors, Tradesmen, or Commercial men, with a view of my estab¬ 
lishing a connexion. Further, a parcel of old clothes, linen, &c., 
which I could get mended up, would be very acceptable, as I have 
not been able to find a rag, paper, or relic of any kind belonging 
to my mother or myself. All seems to have been made away with. 
Hoping to hear from you in reply, and trusting you are in good 
health, Believe me faithfully yours, 

The Rev’d A. H. Ferris, 

Charlestown, 

Cornwall. 

It will be seen that one of the writers of the above letters 
was in prison for life, on the charge of writing threatening 
letters; and the other is an educated man who is striving to 
redeem his character and lost position. 

Their experience with this clergyman was the same as my 
own, and it seems very hard that one who devotes his life to 
works of piety and charity, should have to struggle years 
to replace £150 of his small income, out of which he has 
been swindled. 

Oliver Goldsmith’s brother was “ passing rich on £40 a 
year.” I suppose it is much the same with another country 
parson—the Rev. A. H. Ferris, my benefactor. 




ANOTHER CHAPLAIN'S LETTER. 


477 


The following letter is from the present chaplain at the 
Dartmoor convict establishment, whose name has been previ¬ 
ously mentioned: 

Princetown, 

Easter Monday, 

1888. 

Dear Bid well, —I was very glad to receive your letter and to 
hear so favourable an account of you. Long may you live to enjoy 
your long lost liberty. The contrast between your life here when 
I knew you, and what you are now having must indeed make, you 
thankful. I don’t think any prisoner I ever knew had such a bad 
time of it as you had, and the wonder to me is that you are alive 
to tell the tale. I was very glad when I heard you were once 
more safe at home. Here, you see, I still abide — men may come 
and men may go, but I stop on, and make the best of it; although I 
am beginning to feel a little tired of it, and the next offer I get of a 
living, I think I shall take it. You old doctor, Power, is, I believe, 
still at Portsmouth prison, but I seldom hear from him now. Thank 
you for the photos of yourself — what a contrast! They show 
what fifteen years in prison will do for a man not trained to the busi¬ 
ness I have no newspaper cuttings that would interest you. The 
only thing I ever read was that after you landed in America you 
were arrested on some trumpery charge, and that the detectives 
themselves got a good wigging from the magistrate for their 
interference! 

I shall be pleased to hear from you from time to time, and will 
not keep you waiting so long for an answer as I have done this 
time. 

With very best wishes, 

Believe me to remain, 

Your sincere friend, 

(The Reverend) Clifford Rickards. 

Once on a time some prisoner or other cut his throat with 
a razor, and an order was issued from the Home Office that 
razors were to be abolished in all Her Majesty’s prisons, since 
which time the warders and assistant warders have had to 
clip the hair and beard of all convicts once a week. West- 
lake placed a small bench outside of the door and ordered me 


478 


SILENCE. 


to come out and sit on it to be clipped (shaved with shears), 
though he well knew that at the time I could scarcely hold 
myself in a sitting posture. But the order was only a pre¬ 
text for what followed. Two of them came in, seized me by 
the ankles, dragged me out, and threw me on the stool, from 
which I fell heavily. Four then seized and held me in the 
manner shown in the “photographic” picture, which will be 
found opposite page 38, while a fifth clipped me. Of course, 
my ears, nose, and mouth (their thumbs being inserted into 
my cheeks) did not have a comfortable time of it for the next 
half hour. 

A short time previous I had been, by some customary 
abuse, driven into a state which made me give Westlake “ a 
piece of my mind,” and for this result of his own acts he 
brought me before the governor, who gave me the usual u three 
days bread and water,” and fined me eighty-four remission 
marks. Of course I could not have been quite right in my 
mind, and this treatment made me resolve to keep silent, for 
at the moment I believed they could have no right to punish 
me for not talking. I therefore refused to speak or answer 
any question, and lay in sullen despair on the planks by day 
and on a pallet by night. 

As it became noised about that I would not speak, the 
governor and others came and vainly questioned me, until, at 
last, the chaplain, Mr. Rickards, came in, but could not with 
the ^indest persuasion get me to open my mouth. Westlake 
suggested to the assistant doctor that the battery would make 
me talk or scream. Accordingly, the next day he came in, 
accompanied by warders, and put it on almost every square 
inch of my body, causing most indescribable torture, espe¬ 
cially when applied to the nerve centers, the eyes, mouth, 
and ears. This last was horrible, and while the poles of the 
battery were being applied to my ears, it seemed to me 
that ten thousand cannon were being exploded inside of my 
head, since which I have had a ringing in the left ear which 
became quite deaf. When the current was caused to pass 


BACK TO THE HOSPITAL. 


479 


through my arms and legs, it would twist and cramp the 
muscles until I was in agony. After a half hour of this 
work he gave it up, and I then said to him that I had been 
punished for talking, and now he had tortured me for keep¬ 
ing silence. Of course I was in the wrong, but I did not think 
so then. 

The master tailor who had perceived and pitied the state 
in which I had been sent to his shop, came in at times to see 
me, and on the last occasion that I saw the good man, he said: 
“ My poor fellow, you must prepare for eternity ; you are not 
long for this world,” etc. 

I replied, thanking him for his consideration and kindness 
while I was in the shop, and remarked that the sooner the end 
came the better — that I did not think the Almighty would 
be an unrelenting judge against one who had suffered so much 
in this life as myself. He shook hands with me, and we 
parted forever. 

Even principal Westlake became satisfied in his own mind 
that I would not survive; therefore, the next morning (the 
medical officer, Dr. Power, being still absent) he brought in 
the assistant doctor and said : “ This man is very bad, sir.” 

The doctor had my shirt taken off, and after a short exami¬ 
nation he ordered me to be taken back to my old ward in the 
hospital. 

I will conclude this chapter by giving an incident which 
proves that the treatment of prisoners by principal Westlake 
caused the death of one and the serious wounding of another. 
Governor Harris had been transferred to Chatham. Captain 
Avery had received the appointment and was, at the time 
(1881) of the occurrence I am about to relate, the head gov¬ 
ernor. He was truly a noble-hearted man, and, after leaving 
the army, had been deputy governor of the convict establish¬ 
ment at Gibraltar. I have on several occasions heard pris¬ 
oners, who had served a term of penal servitude at that place, 
relate incidents concerning himself and his benevolent wife, 
of which the following is an example: 


480 


ANGELIC MINISTRATIONS. 


A convict, who was one of those concerned, said that the 
day before the Christmas holidays Mrs. Avery procured for 
her ten-year-old son a loose coat, with a number of large 
pockets, and stowing them full of packages of cake, came to 
where his party were at work. Of course the warder in 
charge would feel highly honored at being noticed by the 
governor’s lady, and she skilfully drew his attention away, 
while her little boy went around and hid the bundles in vari¬ 
ous nooks and corners, the prisoners of course furtively watch¬ 
ing his erratic movements. When his pockets were emptied 
the men found opportunities for possessing themselves of 
these angel’s gifts — an angel’s gifts, indeed ! for in British 
prisons there is no change of food at Christmas-time, and 
nothing to remind the imprisoned wretches that Christ died as 
much for them as the more fortunate of mankind. 

Another told me how, after he had served his time at Gib¬ 
raltar, Governor Avery and lady came home on the same ship, 
and she used to go forward among those who where about to 
become free men, exhorting them to be good citizens, and 
shaking hands at parting. 

This Governor Avery had not been long at Dartmoor 
before he detected Westlake in the perpetration of some 
cruelty, and had him transferred to the stone quarry. Here 
he made himself so obnoxious by his petty tyrannies that 
three or four of the men determined to make an attempt to 
escape. The plan was to knock down Westlake, and make a 
run for it through the line of the three or four guards who 
stood at a considerable distance apart. As the quarry was 
outside of the prison walls, the conspirators believed some of 
them might succeed, each one, of course, thinking that he 
would be the lucky man. 

This plan was divulged to Westlake, who, instead of taking 
measures to prevent the attempt, laid his plans to kill the 
ringleaders, who were serving terms of twenty and twenty-five 
years respectively. 

At the appointed time Westlake pretended to be off his 









%' ' - ^ 








t 

































































































“HE JS DEAD. 


481 


guard, and the ringleader sprang towards him with a drilling- 
bar. Westlake whirled and ran out of the quarry, followed by 
the two ringleaders. The men expected to find the guards at 
their usual stations, but these were waiting near the outlet of 
the quarry. The convicts then made a rush, but had not gone 
far before both were brought down, one shot in the chest, and 
the other in the legs. This last was the twenty-five-year man 
who had attempted to knock Westlake down. As he lay 
on the ground Westlake ordered one of the guards to 
shoot him, which he did, putting a charge of shot into his 
chest. 

That is the story as told to me by one who was working 
in the quarry at the time, though I do not vouch for it. At 
any rate about 4 p. M. of that day a man was carried, groan¬ 
ing horribly, past my cell into the adjoining one, and as the 
partition was only of sheet-iron, I plainly heard his groans. 
After about two minutes all became silent, and I knew the 
man must be dead, although I knew nothing of what had 
happened. 

When he was put in I heard the iron door slammed and 
locked. After he was still I heard the door opened and a 
warder say: “ He is dead.” The door was again locked. In 
a few moments 1 heard the clatter of steps, and the cell door 
opened again. Then I heard the doctor’s voice. Now what 
followed I have tried to convince myself that I do not remem¬ 
ber distinctly, but it is impressed on my mind that in reply to 
the doctor’s questions the warder said that the man had 
been shot dead in attempting to escape from the quarry, and 
that his body had been brought from there. 


31 


Chapter XLIV. 


DR. SMALLEY — TRANSFERRED TO WOKING INVALID PALACE—A GANG OF CHAINED 
CONVICTS AT PLYMOUTH STATION — A DELIGHTFUL JOURNEY TO END IN A 
LIVING GRAVE — DESCRIPTION OF WOKING PRISON PALACE — MAJOR-GEN. SIR 
JOSHUA JEBB — DR. CAMPBELL—GANGS OF LIVING SKELETONS FROM CHATHAM 
— CHATHAM PRISON AND GREAT BASINS — THE REVOLT AT CHATHAM — RE¬ 
MORSELESS SEVERITY AGAINST THE REVOLTERS — NO INVESTIGATION AS TO 
THE CAUSE OF REVOLT — SNEAKING PART OF OUR FOOD TO THE SKELETONS. 


N 1878 Dr. Power exchanged to Portsmouth, as else- 



1 where related, and was replaced by a new medical officer, 
Dr. Smalley. As Dr. Power’s treatment of the previous 
eighteen months had done me some good, Dr. Smalley 
thought I was well enough to sew and to be put on the 
ordinary first-class prison diet. 

As Dr. Smalley was a new broom, and felt himself obliged 
to sweep out of the Infirmary all who could crawl about, he 
endeavored, by the usual test-tortures, to ascertain who were 
really unable to do so. Therefore I was subjected to electric 
applications—or I may better characterize them as bombard¬ 
ments— during a period of five or six months, at the end of 
which time he was satisfied that my debility was genuine; 
and I believe, among all whom Dr. Power had left in the 
Infirmary, the fresh tests by this new doctor did not expose a 
single case of imposition — a remarkable proof of the former’s 
skill and medical judgment. 

I was still kept in the same Infirmary cell, where Dr. 
Smalley visited me on his daily round. Some patching work 
was now brought to me from the tailor-shop, and I soon 
became expert at it, and as it occupied my mind when there 
was not light enough to study, this part of my imprisonment 
would not have been so unhappy, had I not been obliged to 


( 482 ) 



A RAY OF SUNLIGHT. 


483 


live solely on bread, twenty-four ounces per day, which was 
the only part of the prison diet that I could possibly digest, 
in consequence of which I became worse; and as the doctor 
did not consider it necessary to give me any other food, I 
lingered along in a very weak state until I was transferred to 
Woking prison. 

During the eight years I had been at Dartmoor, there had 
been a railway constructed from Portsmouth to Tavistock. 
In cold weather all convicts are provided with an ulster for 
their journey — a merciful provision, as their ordinary suit is 
inadequate. At 5 o’clock on the morning of November 3, 
1881, I was carried and placed, without fetters, in a large 
omnibus; in a moment I heard the clanking of chains, and 
looking out saw a gang of a dozen men chained together, as 
shown in the illustration. These were pressed into the omni¬ 
bus, and a half-hour’s drive brought us to Tavistock station. 
Here we were transferred to the cars, and in another half-hour 
were put out on the platform of the Plymouth station to wait 
for the London train. As we passed through the concourse 
of people, many of them gazed upon the line of chained men 
with looks expressive of mingled curiosity, astonishment, and 
compassion. As we were passing to the third-class compart¬ 
ment, three ex-convicts [see cut, “ Convicts at Railway Sta¬ 
tion ” ] in citizen’s clothes, who had just been released, rushed 
forward and tried to get the three warders who were doing 
escort duty to bring us into the compartment where they had 
seats, so that they could have a chat with me. Of course this 
was refused. 

As I had been kept in solitude for eight years, during 
which I had scarcely a glimpse of the sky, this first unob¬ 
structed view of the country from the car window filled me 
with delight. I gazed with rapture at the shifting panorama 
of hills, valleys, meadows, herds of cattle, and at the cozy¬ 
looking farmsteads in the midst of orchards, beneath the 
trees of which lay heaps of red-cheeked apples waiting to be 
eaten. This was a sight which reminded me of Tantalus, 


A BENEFACTOR. 


484 



only instead of water there I saw millions of apples, and not 
one for us miserables . Potatoes were the only “ fruit ” I had 
seen through all those years. 

I was very kindly treated by the warders on the journey 
to Woking station, from which we were taken in an omnibus 
to the so-called convicts’ palace. 

Woking convict establishment occupies a fine situation 
on a hill two miles from Woking railway station, which is 
twenty-two miles from London. This establishment consists 
of a male and female prison. They are palatial-looking 
structures, from the railway station presenting an imposing- 
appearance, and are the chief feature of that part of Surrey 
county. From the prison windows nothing can be finer than 

the view of the sur¬ 
rounding country 
which can be seen 
for a circle of ten 
or fifteen miles, in 
all its variety of 
undulating hills 
and valleys,' inter¬ 
spersed with farm¬ 
steads, hamlets, 
and villages. 

The male pris¬ 
on was planned by 
Major-General Sir 
Joshua Jebb, one 
of Her Majesty’s 
most distinguished 
prison commission¬ 
ers. Filled with 
maj.-gen. sir joshua jebb. philanthropic ideas 

regarding prisons 

and prisoners, in advance of his time, he had seen enough of 
the terrible state in which invalid convicts were placed at the 


THE DOCTOR'S “ ENCOURAGING ” WAY. 435 

regular public works prisons, to assure him of the necessity of 
a special institution where such as were doubly unfortunate 
could be sent, and receive the special attention and treatment 
not to be had otherwise. If I was, not misinformed, the 
prison in question cost between a million and a million and a 
half dollars, and has become famous as the “Woking Palace.” 
The carping of press and public at Gen. Jebb for being instru¬ 
mental in the erection of so fine a structure for convicts — 
the cost having exceeded his estimate nearly one-half — finally 
broke his heart, and he died in 1863, lamented by all his 
acquaintances and by all the imprisoned wretches in England. 

When I arrived I was put in a cell of the Infirmary, where 
the next forenoon the medical officer, Doctor Campbell, came 
to examine into my physical condition. He found that the 
sinews of my legs were so contracted that they were very 
crooked, and there was not much but skin and bone left, 
being quite atrophied. After that when going his daily 
morning round, the warder would throw open my door and 
shout “ Attention,” the doctor glancing in as he passed, there 
being nothing that he could do for me except to order the 
kind of food my condition required, and, from all I heard that 
was something not to be expected from him, as he in no case 
prescribed but jusf sufficient of what was required to save 
appearances. 

Any man, whether in the infirmary or prison, who made 
application to see the doctor, was usually greeted thus: 
“ Well my man, what do you want ? ” The “ man ” would 
state his complaint, and request that something should be 
done for him, on conclusion of which the doctor wound up 
the interview with the clincher, in his high squeaking tones: 
“ Well, my man, you know you were sent here to die, so you 
must not make any trouble, for there is nothing I can do for 
you.” This was his stereotyped reply, no matter what the 
case or the nature of the disease, which had usually been 
aggravated or brought on by hard work with insufficient food. 


486 


A DIETARY TEST. 


ALMOST STARVED IN*JAIL. 

RELEASE OF TWO MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS FROM PRISON. 

London, February 18th. 

R. Cunninghame Graham, Member of Parliament for Lanark¬ 
shire, and John Burns, the Socialist leader, who were sentenced to 
six weeks imprisonment each, were released from the Pentonville 
prison to-day. When the men emerged they were given an ova¬ 
tion. Upon being set at liberty both rushed to an obscure coffee¬ 
house and ate an enormous breakfast. They declared that they 
were almost starved while in prison. 

While at Pentonville prison I was on the same dietary on 
which the Messrs. Graham and Burns “ were almost starved.’’ 

At the Penton¬ 
ville prison the labor 
was all performed 
in the cells, and the ^ 
food was better than 
at Dartmoor, where ' 
the labor was mostly 
ditching, and other 
work on the bogs. 
Some parts of this 
chapter will give the 
reader a faint idea 
what it was at Chat¬ 
ham; though at pres¬ 
ent at that and the 
Wormwood Scrubs prisons brickmaking is the work. At 
Portland prison it is stone-cutting and quarrying. 

While in prison I heard that Sir Edmund du Cane, chair¬ 
men of the board of prison commissioners — whose pet 
scheme is the present code for the government of Her Maj¬ 
esty’s prisons in Great Britain and Ireland — in order to 
prove that prisoners’ complaints about insufficiency of food 
had no foundation, conceived the idea of making a party of 
“navvies” work for a few days on the prison diet. These 







NOT UNLIKE^ ANDERS ON VILLE. 


487 


declared themselves quite satisfied, and of course no change 
was made. I do not know under what conditions that trial 
took place, but it is reasonable to suppose that they had the 
full weight of the best portions of prison food — such a day’s 
rations as the one laid out in each prison kitchen every morn¬ 
ing by the head-cook for the inspection (and edification) of 
the upper authorities and visitors during the day. Not a 
prisoner except the cooks, but would like to get that ration 
for his day’s supply of food. And in regard to the navvies: 
Unless Mr. du Cane, or some other superior authority, had 
his eyes constantly on them, those who are aware of the low 
moral level and the special characteristics of that class of the 
British population, will not easily believe that they deprived 
themselves of their beer and stronger stimulants, or even ab¬ 
stained from getting both food and drink surreptitiously. 

I have spoken 
elsewhere about 
“gangs of living 
skeletons,” reduced 
to that condition 
while at work exca¬ 
vating the chain of 
vast artificial lakes 
at Chatham, as 
shown in the engrav- 
ing further on. 

There is ample room 
within these basins 
to float all the na¬ 
vies of the world, 
were placed around 
their orders were to 
endeavor to escape. 



A SENTRY. 


During the working hours sentries 
the works at frequent intervals, and 
shoot down any convicts who should 
Some of these were placed on raised 
platforms so that they could see over any inequalities of the 
ground, rendering it extremely difficult for a convict to get 
out of sight of some one of the numerous guards. In the illus- 












488 


OUT-DOOR LABOR. 


tration, one of the convicts is depicted working in chains on 
the wall of the basin. These have been riveted on his ankles 
for attempting to escape, or some other serious act of insub¬ 
ordination. Another at the bellows, is growing his beard, 
which is permitted for three months before he is to be set at 
liberty. 

This spot was, during the wars with France, the place 
where French prisoners of war were buried, large numbers of 
whom perished in the virulent epidemics which raged on 
board the old floating hulks in which these unfortunate vic¬ 
tims of kingly greeds were confined. 

From the opening of Chatham prison in 1859, 1,500 to 
2,000 convicts were constantly employed on these basins. 
Fighting against the tides with dykes and dams, excavating 
half immersed in mud, making millions of bricks, brick-laying, 
stone-cutting, mason work, wheeling clay up narrow planks, 
are a few of the items constituting the daily, unceasing round 
of labors, which proved to them that “ the way of the trans¬ 
gressor is hard.” Incessant toil is the requirement. 

The “ crook,” too lazy to work when free, here handles the 
tools as deftly as he picked a pocket or handled a “ jimmy.” 
The miscreant who committed the most revolting crime, 
becomes, in prison, by force of discipline, a valuable workman 
in many cases, and while thus beyond temptation displaying 
some of the best attributes of manhood. The hope of earning 
his “ remission ” often makes him a willing if not a cheerful 
worker. 

In 1859 the convict establishment at Bermuda was broken 
up, the transportation system abolished, and solitary confine¬ 
ment recognized to be a salutary punishment. The “ model 
prison” at Pentonville [see engraving, page 402] was the 
first erected in Great Britain, as an experiment to carry out 
that principle in practice. Soon the hulks, which had been 
.stationed at the various government dock-yards and arsenals 
for the reception of convicts awaiting transportation, became 
^disused. All authorities describe these as sinks of iniquity, 


TO RECOVER , OR DIE. 


489 

abodes of horrors, where reigned the foulest abuses. After 
Millbank and Pentonville, Portland was the first on the new 
system. Dartmoor followed, then came Woking, Chatham, 
Parkhurst, Brixton, and Wormwood Scrubs. 

Gangs of men were sent to Woking, who had been em¬ 
ployed in excavating the great ship-docks at Chatham, to 
recover or die —often the latter— after they had been worked 
there as long as they could stand on their feet for an hour. 
When such gangs arrived they were living skeletons, and 



A GANG IN BLOUSES MARCHING OUT. 


excited the commiseration of even the hardened warders. 
Some of them informed me that they had been obliged to 
work up to their knees or middle in clay mud. I have seen 
men who, to escape the labor, have lost a leg or arm by 
putting it under a railway truck, having been driven to 
desperation by hunger and bad treatment. 









490 EXTENSIVE WORKS AT CHATHAM. 

If such was the state of affairs in 1881, what a den of 
horrors must Chatham prison have been previous to the famous 
rebellion of the convicts, in the beginning 
of the year 1861. This occurred before 
my advent in England. I have succeeded 
in procuring two illustrations from photo¬ 
graphs taken at the time. In one of the 
cuts may be seen the mess-house where 
the revolt began, and a party of prisoners 
in working blouses marching in double 
file, which is the custom at English pris¬ 
ons. This mess-house is situated on low, 
swampy ground, separated at that time 
from the main land by a small creek, the 
place being called St. Mary’s Island, and 
containing about two hundred and fifty 
acres. Since 1861 a great part of this has 
been excavated sixty feet below water¬ 
mark, and now forms a part of the great 

ON, seeking work. basins for the use of the Britlsb navy. 

There was no vegetation save a few 
dwarfed specimens, rooted in the mud. 

In March, 1861, between three and four hundred convicts 
were employed in the construction of a solid sea-wall of stone¬ 
work around the entire island. This wall, while improving 
navigation of the River Medway, was intended to form a por¬ 
tion of the basins since constructed in connection with it. 

On the morning of the 18th of March the prisoners at 
work here began to show rebellious signs of discontent. At 
first no particular attention was paid to their conduct, as there 
had been a good deal of grumbling for a long time. 

When the men were assembled for dinner in the large 
room of the mess-house, they became openly violent, and the 
warders, of whom there were about twenty, were seriously 
alarmed ; and perceiving that an outbreak was imminent, they 
locked the doors on those who were in the mess-room, some 





THE REBELLION. 


491 

two hundred, and those who were in the other part of the 
building could not be prevented from going out to the bank 
of the river. At this juncture the men, seeing they had mat¬ 
ters for the moment in their own hands, proceeded to a 
general revolt; those who were on the bank of the river 
throwing stones into it, while those confined in the mess-room 
kept up a continuous yelling. There appeared to be no ring¬ 
leaders and no concerted plan of action. The consciousness 
that there was not the slightest chance of ultimate success 
restrained them from using their temporary advantage to 
perpetrate any act of personal violence, they only giving 
ebullition to their angry feelings, in the manner above de¬ 
scribed. Had this been otherwise the few warders would 
have fared hard in the midst of this “ brutal, hooting crowd.” 
Assistance soon arriving from the dockyard just opposite, the 
prison officials took prompt measures to squelch this up¬ 
rising ; the revolters were called out one by one and taken 
across to the dockyard. Those who seemed to be the insti¬ 
gators were now separated and put in chains and sent back 
to the prison. 

This convict prison will lodge 1,200 persons. It is built 
of brick, the interior being principally composed of iron, the 
cells lighted from side windows, and the interior from 
skylights and large windows in the ends of the corridors. 
There are four tiers of cells opening from galleries running 
along on each side, as shown in the illustration. The parade 
is a large courtyard running the entire length of the prison. 

Next morning the men were mustered on this parade- 
ground for roll-call, as usual before being marched to their 
work. Suddenly they began hooting, howling, and throwing 
their caps into the air, acting very much as on the previous 
occasion, but soon proceeding to greater lengths, broke ranks 
and rushed tumultuously into the prison, breaking and destroy¬ 
ing everything possible that came in their way, upseting the 
stoves, strewing the hot ashes over the stone slabs, dismant¬ 
ling the warder’s room, smashing the clocks, tearing out the 


492 


A CHARGE BY THE MILITARY 


baths and gas piping, cleared out the apothecary shop, and 
pitched the medicine bottles crashing about — of course swal¬ 
lowing everything that smelled of spirits, by which many of 
them must have got some queer doses. 

As it was found that the force of warders could do noth¬ 
ing towards reducing the rioters to order, the military were 
called for and marched promptly to the assistance of the 
prison authorities. The warders had all left the prison and 
now formed in a body in front of the main entrance, with the 
soldiers drawn up in the rear, as shown in the illustration. 
Then the great door was thrown ,open, the warders with 
truncheons drawn marched in, the soldiers following, while 
the bugles at the same moment sounded a charge. 

Upon seeing this on rush of assailants the convicts took to 
flight, the most of them scampering away to their cells, those 
who were cut off from that refuge seeking shelter in any 
nook and corner where there appeared to be a chance of 
safety. Those who were overtaken had a hot time of it — 
some were killed, others wounded, and many terribly injured. 

Later, forty-eight of the ringleaders were flogged with the 
cat-o’-nine-tails, one hundred and five were chained together 
and forced to stand out in the yards all day and sleep on the 
planks at night. However, on account of their general excel¬ 
lent conduct, after a time Captain Powell ordered the chains 
removed and the men to return to their cells, with the excep¬ 
tion of twenty-five who were made an example of to terrify 
the others. Many others were deprived of the remission 
marks for good conduct already earned, and forced to serve 
their full term. 

In compiling the account up to the point of the suppres¬ 
sion of the revolt I have omitted many of the harsh terms 
applied to the rioters. It is apparent that the matter for all 
the accounts was obtained from the prison authorities, and as 
there are two sides to all questions, the other side has never 
had a hearing. These convicts had been worked month after 
month in winter’s cold and summer’s heat, amidst slush and 



THE SKELETON GANG. 


493 


mud, or the trying work of wheeling clay up jiarrow planks, 
and this on an insufficient quantity of food, so that large 
men dwindled away to skeletons, the ration being the same 
whether the prisoner be dwarf or giant, and in case the 
dwarfs are detected in giving a six-ounce loaf or any other food 
to the starving giants — I mean men five feet six and upward 
— they would soon find themselves doing penance on bread 
and water in a dark cell. They had complained to the 
proper authorities, and had time and again been turned off 
with evasive answers. Some had committed suicide rather 
than drag out a horrid existence, finally to die or to be dis¬ 
charged helpless into the workhouse. Still others through 
sheer weakness had fallen off the planks while wheeling 
heavy barrows of clay up an incline, and had been killed or 
crippled. 

One of the Chatham victims was in my ward at Woking, 
and beside his own first-class prison diet, and some food given 
him by other invalids who could not eat it, I used to give him 
forty ounces of bread, which he would devour at once. It 
was a regularly recognized thing among the invalid prisoners 
at Woking, that when a skeleton gang arrived from Chatham 
to “ sneak ” all the food possible to them until they had a 
“ fill up,” which took a month or two, many depriving them¬ 
selves for that purpose, for they had been through the same 
course of starvation. 

Crime deserves punishment; but the common instincts of 
humanity demand that it should be administered wisely, and 
with due regard to the true interests of both society and 
offenders. 






Chapter XLV. 


PRISON TORTURES — THE CAT-O’-NINE-TAILS — FLOGGING — THE BIRCH —SQUIRE 
MORRIS—HOW HE OBTAINED PROMOTION — THE GALVANIC BATTERY — THE 
STRAIGHT-JACKET— u SCREW HIM UP ” — UNAUTHORIZED BRUTALITY — HOW 
THEY FEED A MAN IN THE JACKET — TWO BRUTES, WARDERS VILE AND 
JAMES — THE HUMANE PRINCIPAL WARDER FRY — CRIPPLED FOR LIFE BY 
THE JACKET — THE “CLEANER” MACKEY — RETRIBUTION FOR VILE. 

T HE handle of the cat-o’-nine-tails varies in length from 
two to three feet, and an inch and a half or two inches 
in diameter at the butt. This is usually covered with baize 
or other suitable material, and ornamented in the center and 
at each end with bright yellow whip-cord. On the butt-end 
are impressed the royal arms and the w T ords “ H. M. Prison 
Commissioners ” in a circle of scroll-work. The lashes are 
arranged in a circle around the top, and are about three feet 
and a half in length. They are about the size of the cord 
used for carpenter’s chalk-lines, and are whipped at the ends 
with colored silk, to prevent them from fraying when used. 
I have talked with many men who have been flogged, and am 
satisfied that it is an instrument of fearful torture. It always 
cuts into the flesh so that the cicatrices never disappear, and 
the doctors always look at a prisoner’s back the first thing 
to see if he has been flogged, in which case they know he is 
not a “ first-timer.” 

Still, I do not think this instrument does so much per¬ 
manent injury as the birch, with which boys and those who 
have committed acts of a less grave nature are flogged, on 
supposition that it is a lighter punishment. This, in my 
opinion, is owing to an utterly erroneous conception of the 
working of these two instruments of torture. Even if true, 

(494) 







MODES OF PUNISHMENT. 495 

there is no guide to their respective use, save the will of the 
director, of whom one like Squire Morris would punish a man 
with the cat for an offense that another would consider amply 
punished by what he thought a lighter punishment—the 
birch, or even bread and water. 

The “ birch ” is a rod about six feet long, the branch of a 
birch tree, one to two inches in diameter at the butt. The 



THEY DO IT DIFFERENTLY IN CHINA. 


manner of using the cat-o’-nine-tails is as follows: the 
man is stripped naked to the thighs, and then bound, hands 
and feet, to the triangle. Some of the most powerful warders 
are selected as floggers. One of them now strips to the shirt, 
the sleeves of which he rolls above the elbows. He now 
grasps the cat (or birch, as the case may be,) in both hands, 

























496 FLOGGING UNNECESSARY AND BRUTALIZING. 

stands at a distance of five or six feet, and rising to his full 
height, brings it down on the prisoner’s back with all his 
might. At the same instant the principal warder shouts out 
“ One ”; at the next blow he shouts “ Two,” and so on until 
the three dozen, more or less, is completed. If it is to be 
three dozen, then it is usual for the first flogger to strike 
eighteen blows, then resign the weapon to a second, who com¬ 
pletes the job, unless they have a special grudge against the 
man, in which case three floggers “ do ” a dozen each — so 
those who were thus served have informed me; it is also said 
that the floggers sometimes grasp the birch by the thin in¬ 
stead of the thick end. However this may be, I never heard 
a prisoner complain of that. 

There may be brutes whose feelings can be touched in no 
other way, but it is possible that former floggings, inflicted 
from boyhood in various reformatories and jails, helped to 
make them what they have become; for there is no doubt in 
my mind but that flogging of any description is an unneces¬ 
sary and a brutalizing punishment. I have heard, from an 
authentic source, of cases in which a single flogging with the 
birch had brought on incurable atrophy. I refer especially to 
the cases of two big, hardy, powerful seamen of the Royal 
Navy, named Fitz Gibbon and Austin, who received a term of 
a few months in a county jail. These were aggravated by 
the warder into a state of mind which made them threaten 
personal violence against him, for which offense they received 
two dozen strokes of the birch. Five months later they 
were liberated, on the recommendation of the surgeon, who 
certified that they were both suffering from atrophy, without 
the slightest hope of ultimate recovery, and they were accord¬ 
ingly sent home to their friends to save the prison authorities 
the expense of burying them. 

Flogging, and riveting irons on a prisoner’s ankles, mak¬ 
ing him drag about a heavy ball and chain, or chaining him 
in any manner, are the chief, but not the sole means by 
which all hope and human feelings are crushed out. 


















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































THE QUEEN'S CHAMPION. 


497 


While I was in the punishment-ward of prison number 
seven at Dartmoor, there were a number of men flogged. 
The commissioner who visited Dartmoor once a month was 
known as Squire Morris. Many years ago, when the Queen 
was in danger from a rusty old unloaded pistol pointed at 
her by a crazy fool named Edward Oxford, Squire Morris, 
then a policeman, struck up his arm just in time, and bravely 
arrested the would-be assassin! This occurred on the occa¬ 
sion of a grand parade, and the knowledge of how promotion 
is sometimes obtained gives rise to the suspicion that Squire 
Morris might have done as one of great swimming notoriety 
did .some years since. He induced a friend to jump over 
London Bridge, then plunged in after him and saved his life! 
This repeated at intervals made him famous. The above is 
the version current among prisoners, and whether their expe¬ 
rience of defective human nature is at fault in this instance 
or not, the unfortunate Edward Oxford was declared insane 
and confined in the Royal Hospital at Bethlem, where he 
remained until 1864, at which time he was removed to the 
then new Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum at Sandhurst, 
Berkshire, where he is still confined, unless dead. 

However this may have been, Squire Morris was rewarded 
with the gift of an office in the convict service, and in the 
usual course became a commissioner, or director, as they are 
called by prisoners. I have heard very many prisoners speak 
of him as a “ relentless, cruel brute,” etc. At all events, 
during the six months I was in the punishment-ward, I think 
I am correct in saying that not a month passed that he did 
not have men flogged. The morning after one of his visits 
the triangle was brought out and four men in succession were 
flogged for making threats; and it is as well-known a charac¬ 
teristic among prisoners, as outside the bars, that “ the barking 
dog never bites.” 

In several places I have made mention of the tests and 
torture-tests employed by the doctors to ascertain whether 
any case is genuine, or if it is one in which the man is “put- 
32 


498 


THE BATTERY TORTURE. 


ting on the balmy.” The two most powerful agents used by 
them for this purpose are the straight-jacket and the battery. 
Most of my readers have doubtless experienced a slight shock 
from one of the latter. I call a light shock one during which 
the handles can be dropped by opening the hands, and for 
medical purposes it is, if I am not in error, never used above 
that power; but the object for which it is used by prison 
doctors is torture. So powerful a current is used that the 
handles, once grasped, cannot be relinquished, for the muscles 
become cramped around them as rigid as iron, doubling up 
the arms, twisting and wrenching at the nerves and tendons, 
cords and muscles, and throwing the victim into an agony 
of pain which continues as long as the doctor directs. Except 
in heart-disease, there is no permanent injury (unless, as in 
my case, it is put on the ears) attending the application of 
this most exquisite torture, and in this alone it differs from 
those of the Spanish Inquisition of the fifteenth century. The 
doctors apply this a half-hour daily, until they feel assured 
that the man must have been forced to “chuck it up” in 
order to escape the torture. It was applied to me two or 
three hundred times, and when, each day, I heard them com¬ 
ing with the battery, I began to tremble despite myself, then 
set my teeth to bear it, while the agony caused the perspira¬ 
tion to start from every pore of the body. 

The battery is bad enough, but at the worst the pain is over 
as soon as it is removed; but the straight-jacket is horrible 
when applied in the way and for the purpose it is used in 
prison by the warders, who, at Woking, under Governor Bones, 
required but a light pretext to put it on. 

The ostensible object of a straight-jacket is merely to con¬ 
fine the hands and prevent the person from injuring himself 
or others. It is supposed by outsiders to be used without 
causing the wearer pain or other inconvenience than con¬ 
finement of the hands. 

The prison straight-jacket is made from doubled, heavy, 
No. 1 sail-duck, quilted together with waxed shoe-thread; 


TRUE INWARDNESS OF THE STRAIGHT-JACKET. 499 

the edges and around the neck are bound with leather, some 
of them having a large circular piece of heavy sole-leather 
sewed on the front, to make it still more stiff and unyielding. 
Inside are pockets into which the arms are inserted up to the 
shoulders. These pockets are usually of heavy upper-leather, 
but some are made of sole-leather ; in either case it becomes 
hard, especially at the bottom, against which the hands are 
jammed. 

Straight-jackets are supposed by the general public to be 
made large enough, so that they may be worn without painful 
compression of the body; also that they are long enough to 
permit the arms being extended full length, with the hands 
open, and room enough to move them in the pockets. With 
the exception of the one they had for show , at Woking, of 
single canvas, this is an erroneous supposition, in so far as it 
regards the several that I saw in use there. Unless the pris¬ 
oner who is ordered to be put in a jacket has “ squared the 
warder”— i. e., curried favor with him in some way, or by 
getting money from his friends — one of the jackets weighing 
from twenty to thirty pounds is selected, care being taken 
that it is too small by six or eight inches to come together 
at the back, and as much too short to let the arms remain 
straight in the pockets. It is fastened by five heavy straps 
— one each at the neck, across the shoulders, at the waist, 
the bottom of the jacket, and the fifth is fastened in front at 
the bottom and passes beneath, being buckled behind so that 
the jacket cannot, even if loosely put on, be pushed off over 
the head. The following is a description of the way in which 
I have repeatedly seen' this fearful instrument of torture 
put on: 

The two warders, assisted by their devotee and factotum, 
the cleaner, thrust the patient’s arms into the leathern pock¬ 
ets, then throw him down prostrate on his side. The upper 
strap is first buckled tight up around the neck, so that on 
account of the shortness of the jacket the arms are forced 
to bend at the elbows and the doubled fists pressed with great 



500 "TIME'S UP!" 

force against the bottoms of the pockets, in which the arms 
remain immovable; then one of the heaviest sits on the 
prisoner’s shoulders to compress his chest, while the others 
pull up the shoulder-strap until the edges of the six-or- 
eight-inches-too-small jacket come together, at the same time 
giving him an occasional kick in the stomach or rear. I have 
seen three stout straps broken off a jacket in hauling it tight. 
Next the lower straps are drawn tight, the one which passes 
between the thighs being drawn so tight as to chafe into the 
flesh within twenty-four hours. It was a standing order, 


frequently violated by the warders Yile and James, that the 
jacket must be taken off every morning, and left off for the 
space of twenty minutes, during which the man in the jacket 
was permitted to eat his day’s supply of twelve ounces of 
bread, and a pint of milk, and he was given the opportunity 
of doing so unless the cleaner or the warders had a grudge 
against him, in which case by the time he had it half eaten 
came the cry : “ Time’s up ! On with the jacket! Screw him 
up!” — and on it went instanter, in some such mode as 


THEY DON’T USE STRAIGHT-JACKETS IN PERSIA. 









A HUMANE OFFICER . 


501 

described. At noon he was fed a half pound of rice-pudding, 
which was stuffed into his mouth by the cleaner with a 
wooden spoon, and this as fast as it could be shoveled in, 
the man simply swallowing all he could, the remainder being 
plastered over his face, while the warders stood in the door¬ 
way laughing at the cleaner’s performance. At night a pint 
of milk was poured into his mouth — or down the outside of 
his neck — twelve ounces of bread, two pints of milk, and a 
rice pudding comprising a day’s ration. 

I have known many men who have described all I have 
written as practiced on themselves, and I have been sub¬ 
jected to the worst of it myself under Dr. B who is 
known to be a humane physician and a gentleman — only 
he depended on the warders, who too frequently abused his 
confidence. 

Trussed up like a Christmas turkey, the chest compressed 
so that breathing is impeded, the hands, wrists, and arms 
contorted, I have on two occasions seen a man lie four days 
and nights in such an agony of pain that he never slept 
one moment. The knuckles, jammed hard against the sole- 
leather, were soon denuded of the skin, inflamed, and swol¬ 
len. Each day when Dr. B made his daily round, the 
sufferer complained, but warder Yile or James told him 
there was nothing the matter with his hands, nor could he 
induce the doctor to have the jacket removed long enough to 
see the hands himself. This is no proof that he winked at 
the torture, but many would believe so. 

Principal warder Fry was in charge of the extensive 
hospital department, and having observed him for more 
than three years I am satisfied that he may be counted 
among the considerable number of just, straightforward, and, 
I may add, humane officers in the convict service. It was 
one among his multifarious duties to lock up all the hospital 
wards with his master-key at 6 o’clock. The man of whom 
I am speaking, having been in unbearable pain all day, would 
appeal to Mr. Fry not to go away to his own comfortable bed 


502 


THE 0 WNER OF THE HANDS. 


and leave him in such agony, to pass a sleepless and horrible 
night, but in the name of all he held dear to loosen the neck 
and shoulder straps. Mr. Fry seldom failed to comply, and 
during the two months this man was trussed up day and 
night, this alone enabled him to obtain a little sleep. 

At the end of this two months even Governor Bones, the 
pompous and cruel, was disgusted, and one day while going 
his round he looked at the man as usual, and I heard him 
say to warder Vile : 

“ How long has that man been in the jacket ? * 

“ Two months, sir,” replied the warder. 

“There is such a thing as overdoing it,” said the gov¬ 
ernor, as he tramped away. 

Warder Vile reported this speech of the governor’s to 
Mr. Fry, and he to Dr. B who, in his turn, came at 
once and ordered the jacket to be taken off. The man’s 
right hand was the worst, and the skin had all come off or 
hung in great rags; the hand was closed and much'swollen. 
This the doctor took hold of, and, inserting his own under 
the patient’s fingers, he gave a sudden and powerful wrench 
to open the fingers, but as these had become permanently 
crooked it could not be done, the inflamed state of the joints 
caused the man a pang that he remembers vividly to this day. 
Very lately, and the last time I saw that hand, it was still 
crooked, and all the joints permanently enlarged, and the left 
hand still showed marks of the torture. [I may as well 
state that those hands belong to me.] Permanent pains in 
the shoulder joints also remind him of their compression in a 
Woking prison straight-jacket. 

I believe that the members of the Spanish Inquisition 
after torturing their victim for a while let him have a rest, 
but once “ screwed up ” in a straight-jacket, there was no get¬ 
ting away from the pain as long as it remained on, and that 
was usually as long as the warders wished. Indeed, I have 
heard one of them say to Dr. B “I think this man 

better have on a jacket,” and an order to that effect would 


DRUNK AND DISCHARGED. 


503 


be given. All this is a still further proof that only men of a 
high moral order should be employed as warders, but as this 
means higher pay for them and less servility in the presence 
of their superiors, it will be many years before such a change 
is adopted, it being the present policy of the British Govern¬ 
ment to get the whole of the work done by a class of men who 
can live and bring up families on a pittance, reserving all the 
“ big-pay-and-little-work ” places for themselves, their friends, 
and relatives, who have inherited the knowledge of “ how not 
to do it,” and do that to perfection. 

In 1884, some time after the events described in this chap¬ 
ter, warder Vile, with three assistant warders, was sent to 
escort a party of prisoners to one of the hard-labor stations, 
and before the end of the journey they all became more or 
less intoxicated — not an unusual or hazardous occurrence, 
except in case a knowledge of it reached the authorities. 
This happened, and they were all discharged from the service, 
since which time I have heard that Vile succeeded in getting 
into a menial situation where he can no more knock about at 
his w T ill and lord it over convicts. 

The cleaner in the B ward was a prisoner named Mackey, 
and I have seen him beat a man in the presence of the two 
warders; but it is only one of the many instances in which 
certain prisoners were permitted to tyrannize over their fel¬ 
lows by certain warders. This Mackey was in the habit of 
taking out of the can half the milk and replacing it with 
water; of course the milk was stolen for the use of himself 
and the warders. 

No doubt when I was sent out of A ward, Abbott 
informed Vile and James that I was a man who would 
complain to the governor, and these accordingly made it hot 
for me all the time I was under their, charge, especially as I 
had complained to Dr. B against one of them for beating 
and kicking me shortly after I came into their ward. 


Chapter XLVI. 


BOOKS — PRISON PETS — RAT PERFORMS ON THE TRAPEZE — RAT JEALOUSY AND 
RODENT REASONING — AN INTELLIGENT MOUSE — ITS BETRAYAL AND DEATH 
— A BEETLE THE SOLE COMPANION OF MY SOLITUDE — TAME FLIES — SETTING 
A FLY’S DISJOINTED LEG — CHAMPION ENCOUNTERS BETWEEN FLIES — MY 
MOSQUITO FRIENDS—GENERAL REMARKS. 

I N juxtaposition with the chapter showing the worst 
features of life in a prison, I will now present one of an 
opposite character. 

When brought to the Infirmary from the punishment- 
ward, I was so nearly dead that I could not turn myself in 
bed, and lay for eighteen months before I began to rally, 
and then very slowly. Years of suffering were imposed 
upon me, as well as hundreds of other genuine invalids, 
because the wretch Phillips gloried in having successfully 
deceived the good doctor. Day after day, long, dreary, 
sleepless nights, dragged along monotonously and slowly into 
weeks, months, and years, with little to occupy the mind, 
save to stare at the blank, cold walls, and let the thoughts 
wander aimlessly, or surge tumultuously as some picture of 
the happy past flashed across the mental vision and plunged 
the writhing soul into an agony of remorse. 

Books were served out but once a week, and most of those 
were of an indifferent character, or unsuited to my taste; 
besides, the light was bad, and to read or study much meant 
ruin to the eyesight. The plan of distribution of the library 
books was arranged according to the usual official red-tape 
stupidity, by which the largest amount of work is consumed 
to produce the least possible result. In case a man wished 
to have his book exchanged, on the appointed day he must 

( 504 ) 



i 


RATS. 


505 


put it down at his door before he goes out to his work. In 
the course of the day a schoolmaster comes around, followed 
by a prisoner carrying a tray containing a number of books, 
one of which the prisoner picks up and drops at the cell door, 
and puts the one returned in with the others. The book left 
may be one that the man had a week or a fortnight before, 
and if he has been long there he is quite sure to have had it 
at some previous time. 

A real pleasure was derived from those prisoners’ friends, 
the rats and mice. I have no doubt but that for what is left 
of my mind I am indebted to those animals, which I easily 
tamed, and taught to be my companions. 

Not long after my arrival at Dartmoor, a prisoner gave 
me a young rat which became the solace of an otherwise 
miserable existence. Nothing could be cleaner in its habits, 
or more affectionate in disposition, than this pet member of a 
despised race of rodents. It passed all its leisure time in 
preening its fur, and after eating always most scrupulously 
cleaned its hands and face. It was easily taught, and in 
course of time it could perform many surprising feats. I 
made a small trapeze, the bar being a slate-pencil about four 
inches long, which was wound with yarn, and hung from 
strings of the same; and on this the rat would perform like 
an acrobat, appearing to enjoy the exercise as much as the 
performance always delighted me. I made a long cord out of 
yarn, on which it would climb exactly in the manner in which 
a sailor shins up a rope; and when the cord was stretched 
horizontally, it would let its body sway under and travel 
along the cord, clinging by its hands and feet like a human 
performer. 

A rat’s natural position when eating a piece of bread is to 
sit on its haunches, but I had trained this rat to stand upright 
on his feet, with his head up like a soldier. Placing him 
in front of me on the bed, I would hand him a piece of 
bread, which he would hold up to his mouth with his hands 
while standing erect. Keeping one sharp eye on me and the 


506 


LEARNING THE ROPES. 


other on his food, the moment he noticed that I was not look¬ 
ing at him he would gradually settle down upon his haunches. 
When my eyes turned on him he would instantly straighten 
himself up like a school-boy caught in some mischief. He 
always showed great jealousy of my tame mice, and I had to 
be very careful not to let him get a chance to “ go for ” one. 
On one occasion I was training one of the mice, and did not 
notice that the rat was near. Suddenly, like a flash, he 
leaped nearly two feet, seizing the mouse by the neck pre¬ 
cisely as a tiger seizes its prey. Although I instantly snatched 
him away, it was too late, the one fierce bite having severed 
the jugular. 

I also made a good many experiments to test my rat’s 
reasoning powers, one of which I will describe, referring to 

the accompanying diagram, 
which represents two up¬ 
rights with the cords a , b, c , 
running back and forth be¬ 
tween them. Placing the 
rat on the cord'at a, he went 
like a sailor to the point 5, 
then started toward the point 
c , but had not proceeded far 
before he appeared to realize that the cord he was on did not 
lead directly to the floor. He now returned to the point b , 
resting himself upon the cross-piece. From that favorable 
position he “ considered the matter,” and then took the cord 
that led directly to the floor. 

I have mentioned mice, and indeed they were most inter¬ 
esting pets, easily trained, and as scrupulously clean and' neat 
as any creature of a higher race could be. I at times had a 
half dozen of them, which I had caught in the following 
simple way: I first stuck a small bit of bread on the inside 
of my pint tin cup, about half way down; then turning it 
bottom up on the floor, I raised one edge just high enough so 
that a mouse could enter, and let the edge of the cup rest on 








PLAYIXG 'POSSUM. 


507 


a splinter. It would not be long before one would enter, and 
as it could not reach the bread otherwise, it stood up, putting 
its hands against the sides of the cup, thus overbalancing it, 
causing the cup to drop, and simple mousie would find itself 
i also a prisoner. 

Although there was an order that no prisoner should be 
permitted to have any kind of pets, especially rats and mice, 
and as the prison swarmed with these, the warders had 
become tired of being obliged to “turn over” the cells and 
prisoners daily in search of these contraband favorites, the 
loss of which generally provoked the owners to insubordi¬ 
nation ; in consequence of which there was a tacit understand¬ 
ing that they were not to be interfered with, provided they 
were kept out of sight when the governor made his rounds. 

Nothing could overcome the jealousy of my otherwise 
gentle rat when he saw me petting a mouse; and he would 
watch for an opportunity to spring upon his diminutive rival 
and put a speedy end to his career. 

I had one mouse which to his other accomplishments 
added the following: he would lie in the palm of my open 
hand, with his four legs up in the air, pretending to be dead, 
only the little creature kept his bright eyes wide open, fixed 
on my face. As soon as I said “ Come to life ! ” he would 
spring up, rush along my arm and disappear into my bosom 
like a flash. 

Some years later (about 1883) at Woking prison, I had 
a mouse trained the same as the one above described, and 
was in dread lest warder Abbot should see and destroy it. 
Therefore, in the hope of getting a guarantee for its safety, 
one day when the medical officer, Dr. B on his round 
came into my cell with his retinue, I put my mouse 
through the “ dead dog ” performance. The little fellow lay 
exposed in my hand with one of his twinkling eyes fixed on 
me, and the other on these strangers. Such was his confi¬ 
dence in me that he went through the performance perfectly, 
and when I gave the signal in an instant he was in my (as 


508 


ANOTHER VICTIM. 


the poor thing believed) protecting bosom. The doctors 
laughed, and the retinue of course followed suit — if they had 
frowned the latter would have done likewise. The doctors ap¬ 
peared so pleased that I felt certain they would order the 
warder, as was in their power, to let me keep my harm¬ 
less pet, the sole companion of my solitude and misery, 
unmolested. 

They went outside the cell and lingered; in a moment 
Abbot, the warder, came in, and after a struggle got the 
mouse out of my bosom and put his heel upon it. I am not 
ashamed to confess that I cried over the loss of this poor 
little victim of over-confidence in human beings. 

At the same prison, where I remained from November 3, 
1881, until my release in July, 1887, I once procured a beetle 
with red stripes across his wing-sheaths, and trained him to 
show some degree of intelligence. This was for months the 
sole companion of my helpless solitude, but it was at last dis¬ 
covered in my possession and taken away. 

At another time, when I was for more than a year without 
any means of occupying my mind, I made friends with the 
flies, and found that they displayed no small degree of intelli¬ 
gence. I soon had a dozen tamed, and in the course of my long 
observations I discovered, among other things, that the males 
were very tyrannical over the fair sex, and tried to prevent 
them from getting any of the food. In the summer morn¬ 
ings at daylight they would gather on the wall next my bed 
and wait patiently until I had washed, sat up in bed, and 
finished breakfast; then I placed a little chewed bread on the 
back of my hand, when instantly there was a rush, and the 
first one who got possession, if a male, tried to prevent the 
rest from alighting, and would dart at the nearest, chasing 
it in zig-zags far away. In the meantime another would 
have attained possession, and he “ went for ” the next comer, 
and for a long time there would be a succession of fierce 
encounters, until at last all had made good their footing and 
feasted harmoniously; for as fast as one succeeded in alighting 


LITTLE FRIENDS . 


509 


it was let alone. Sometimes a male would take possession of 
my forehead, and, in case I left him unmolested, he would 
keep off all intruders on what he evidently considered his 
domain, by darting at them in a ferocious manner. On one 
occasion I noticed a fly that had one of his hind legs turned 
up, apparently out of joint. At it was feeding on my hand I 
tried to put my finger on the leg to press it down. During 
three or four such attempts he moved away, after which he 
appeared to recognize my kind intention and stood perfectly 
still while I pressed on the leg. It may be unnecessary to 
add that I failed in performing a successful surgical 
operation. 

As the winter approached the flies began to lose their legs 
and wings; those that lost their wings would walk along the 
wall until they came to the usual waiting spot, and as soon as 
I put a finger against the wall the maimed creature would 
crawl to the usual place on my hand for breakfast. Indeed, 
the long years of solitude had produced in me such an unut¬ 
terable longing for the companionship of something which 
had life, that I never destroyed any kind of insect which 
found its way into my cell — even when mosquitoes lit on 
my face I always let them have their fill undisturbed, and 
felt well repaid by getting a glimpse of them as they flew, 
and with the music of their buzzing. 

There appears to be a preponderating opinion that the 
lives of prisoners must be made as wretched as possible while 
in prison, and the more degrading and terrible the punish¬ 
ments inflicted on them in English prisons, the more spon¬ 
taneous the verdict, “ Served him right.” The great body of 
“ revolvers,” or convicts who return again and again, began 
their criminal career in reformatories and jails. The very 
first time they are locked behind the bars is the only time in 
their lives when they feel keenly the degradation of their 
condition. Ever after they have lost all sense that any 
stigma attaches to imprisonment; for they see so many others 
there of all classes of society, at the same time practicing the 


510 PRIVILEGES WHICH OUGHT TO BE GRANTED. 

thieves’ code of morals: That every man is dishonest, but 
that the mass of every community keep within the limits of 
the law, many of them because they lack the courage to brave 
it, as do thieves. Therefore, when they get into prison, they 
regard it not as a degradation, but solely as a misfortune. 

From the first hour that any man spends in prison, to the 
last, if he is subjected to degrading punishments like those 
described in the previous chapter, he becomes more obdurate 
and farther removed from the possibility of reformation . 
What the prisoner feels most is his loss of liberty. When 
once the ponderous gates close behind him, and he feels him¬ 
self cut off from participation in all that is going on in the 
world—its pleasures and associations—the iron enters his soul 
and rusts its way deeper and deeper. Now if this man is 
to be acted on for good it must be by doing him good. Give 
him every privilege consistent with his safe keeping, and if 
occasion arises that there is a real necessity for punishing 
him, let it be by the temporary loss of some of those privi¬ 
leges. When educated men — I mean gentlemen — of a high 
moral standard are appointed as warders, with adequate pay 
befitting the great responsibility of their positions, such de¬ 
privations will, in my humble opinion, be found amply suf¬ 
ficient to keep up the required discipline. Among these 
privileges small animals should be allowed the prisoners, to 
be kept in cages while the men are absent from their cells 
at work or otherwise, of course under proper regulations. 
On the expiration of the prisoner’s term of servitude he 
should be permitted to take his cage of pets with him to 
keep as a reminder that the wages of wrong-doing is suf¬ 
fering in some form. The domestic influence of such pets 
would be likely to prove a restraint, and do much to pre¬ 
vent their owner’s relapse into crime. 

Certainly, prisoners should be allowed every means of 
mental and physical improvement. The English prison edu¬ 
cational system, as it came under my notice, which gives but 
a single hour in a week to the school, is simply a farce. 




Chapter XLVII. 


DOCTOR CAMPBELL RETIRES — REMARKS ABOUT WARDERS—DOCTOR YON MARTIN 
— A FOUR-BEDDED DORMITORY — ELECTRIC SHOCKS “RESTORE” BEDRIDDEN 
CRIPPLES — STRANGE CHARACTERS — A CADGER AND A PICKPOCKET — SELWIN’S 
STORY—WHOPPER’S LIFE — AN HONORABLE PICKPOCKET — LOCOMOTOR ATAXY' 

— A PICKPOCKET’S SONS — EX-SOLICITOR D-MORALIZING — A LITTLE 

LIGHT FOLLOWED BY' DEEPER GLOOM — DOCTOR BRAINE’S IDEA — ABBOT’S 
BRUTALITY — GOVERNOR BONES AGAIN — UNDER HIM WOKING BECOMES A DEN 
OF HORRORS — HE IS SUPERSEDED — A RESTORATION UNDER DOCTOR VANE 
C. CLARKE —PENNOCK, THE EPILEPTIC — THIRTY-FOUR Y'EARS IN PRISON — HIS 
SAD STORY — A PROMISE YET UNFULFILLED. 

T HE two preceding chapters will enable the reader to 
understand more clearly much of what follows. 

As usual, I remained day and night in the solitude of my 
cell until the medical officer, Dr. Campbell, resigned from the 
service and retired to private life with a pension and the 
inexpressible hatred and contempt of all prisoners who ever 
had the misfortune to come under his treatment. 

He had been a medical officer for more than thirty years. 
The doctors in the prison service, as., a rule, are kind and 
just to prisoners. Under the system of employing a cheap 
class of men for warders, the brutal element would have a 
still greater ascendency than at present, the prisons would 
become slaughter-houses, notwithstanding the rules laid down 
for their guidance, and the higher authorities would be kept 
in still greater ignorance regarding most of the brutalities 
perpetrated, were it not for the doctors. 

In my animadversions concerning the warders, so far as I 
am conscious of it, I am actuated only by the desire to let the 
truth be known. Notwithstanding the fact that some who 
were brutal in their treatment of others, were personally 

( 511 ) 




512 


A CRIPPLED QUARTET. 


kind to me, I do not on that account paint them as excep¬ 
tional angels; and I trust the time is not far distant when 
the necessity of employing a higher class of men in that 
capacity will be recognized, and changes for the better made. 

After Dr. Campbell left, the assistant doctor, Yon Martin, 
took charge pending the appointment of another medical 
officer, which did not take place until a year later. During 
this interval he always treated me with the utmost personal 
kindness. Believing that eight years in the solitude of a cell 
was quite sufficient, he had me located in a small, four-bedded 
dormitory on the ground floor, with three other cripples. 
Here we, were comfortable as long as the warm weather 
lasted; but as this dormitory had an air space of four inches 
under the door — for the closing of which there had been no 
provision made — also a large transom-window, which was 
always open, it was a cold place for the winter quarters of 
invalids. When it became unbearably cold, one of us would 
place our pillows or a blanket to stop the opening below, and 
with a cane close the transom; but as soon as the warder, 
Abbot, noticed this (not feeling the cold through his heavy 
overcoat) he at once opened both, besides taking pains to 
keep the outer door, just opposite, wide open, so that the 
temperature was about the same as it was in the open air. 

After enduring this as long as possible I explained the 
matter to Dr. Yon Martin, who had us removed to warm 
cells on the floor above, but of course I was again in soli¬ 
tude. I was in the dormitory more than six months, with 
three men as unlike in character, natural traits, and ante¬ 
cedents as it would be possible to bring together. 

One of these was the son of respectable parents, who lived 
and died within eight miles of Woking prison, where their 
son Selwin was now on the last half of a term of ten 
years for stealing some linen from a clothes-line, his first 
term having been for five years. He was a very small man, 
and had been an unruly small boy, and it was this circum¬ 
stance which attracted the attention of a tramping chimney- 


CONVICTS EXCAVATING CHATHAM BASIN. 









































































































































































































































































































































































































































































PRISON MATHEMATICS. 


513 

sweep, who excited his imagination to such an extent with 
the wonders to be seen in the great world, that he ran away 
in his company, and adopted the profession of “ climbing- 
boy,” as young sweeps are designated in England. He had 
gradually fallen into “ cadging ” ways, and for twenty years 
had been an inveterate cadger, tramp, and vagabond. He 
had served more than fifty short terms of 
imprisonment in the county jails of every 
shire in England before incurring penal 
servitude. During the whole time I was 
in the dormitory he would go on for hours 
relating his adventures, telling not too re¬ 
fined stories to the man in the opposite 
bed — a fair example of the mutually de¬ 
basing influence of prison association. 

Now for the astonishing side of this 
man Selwin’s character. During all his 
imprisonments he had studied a great deal, 
especially figures, till he had become a fair 
arithmetician, and in algebra he had no 
difficulty with quadratics. A stranger con¬ 
versing with him, who knew nothing of his 
antecedents, would have no reason to sus¬ 
pect that he was other than a respectable, 
fairly-educated man. 

This man had claimed to be incapable of walking, having 
lain in bed for two or three years; but Dr. Von Martin put 
the battery on him until he promised to try crutches, on which 
he just managed to shuffle along in a queer way and unlike 
any genuine cripple I had ever seen — although I do not think 
he was an out and out impostor, but only an individual ex¬ 
ample of the many invalid prisoners who fail to get anything 
done for themselves unless they pretend to be much worse 
than they actually are. Of course, in such cases disease or 
ailment is not readily apparent, and causes great perplexity 
to the doctors. Selwin was forty years of age, twenty-five of 
which he had passed in durance. 

33 






514 


AN HONORABLE THIEF. 


Another character in the dormitory, who was serving a 
term of seven years, having served one of five previously, 
out of respect for his children, 1 will designate by his “ flash ” 
name, 44 Whopper.” 

He was bom in London,his parents being trades-people, who 
permitted him to roam the streets, and as often as he could 
obtain the required funds he visited the 44 penny-gaff ” (two- 
cents-admission theater), and other places where London 
children are corrupted. Whopper at an early age became 
very expert at picking pockets, and at sixteen he had become 
very proud of the peculiar reputation acquired in that 44 busi¬ 
ness.” He had been regarded as one of the smartest crooks 
in London, and at forty years of age had for many years been 
known by the above sobriquet, on account of the 44 whopping” 
amount of money he obtained, and the skill and boldness in 
pocket-picking which he displayed. His plan was to dress 
like a gentleman—he being a handsome fellow—and by 
some stratagem get admission as a guest at aristocratic 
weddings. As soon as he saw any signs of commotion he 
departed with his booty. 

I am now about to make a statement that may appear a 
strange one to some readers. It is that this pickpocket— 
this jail and prison-bird —was a man of honor. He had 
adopted crime as a profession, and was as proud of it as any 
honest tradesman is of his own occupation. Outside of that 
he was perfectly reliable, his advice being sought by those in 
his own line, who placed unbounded confidence in his honesty. 
He was very particular to conceal his mode of life from his 
family, to whom he was a kind husband and father, having 
taught his children to be scrupulously honest; and they are 
to-day respectable and thriving tradesmen in London. They 
never discovered, until after I became acquainted with him, 
that their father had been engaged in any dishonorable busi¬ 
ness, or had been in jail and prison. One day he received a 
letter from one of his sons, who had in some way ascertained 
his whereabouts. Whopper showed the letter to me, and in 



UNCERTAIN WALKING. 5^5 

it the son wrote that he was sure of the falsity of the charge 
against his father, and that in any case he would make appli¬ 
cation for leave to bring him home. 

At the time of his first five years’ penal servitude, his 
wife had deserted him and her children for another man, and 
after his release he had paid for their board in a respectable 
family. He remarked that for his children he felt that it 
was a question of school and a trade, or jail. He had served 


SCHOOL AND A TRADE, OR JAIL. 

his first term at working in the mud at Chatham, as described 
elsewhere, until he had been stricken down by locomotor 
ataxy , or inability to guide his legs unless he was looking 
at them. If he had hold of another man’s arm and looked at 
his feet, he could walk very well; but if he turned his eyes 
away, and then attempted to walk, he had no idea of the 
direction in which his legs were moving, and they would 
sprawl about loose like those of a jumping-jack. He com- 







516 


A “CROOK” ON WHEELS. 


pleted his first term in 1876, and was discharged a helpless, 
incurable cripple, and of course had to abandon the profession 
of pocket-picking. 

He then became a middle-man or agent between thieves 
and the receivers of stolen goods, sometimes purchasing 
stolen watches, jewelry, and diamonds on his own account, 
and disposing of them, after changing the numbers of the 
watches, melting the gold settings, etc., so that the property 
could not be identified by the legal owners. His reputation 
for probity, skill, and promptitude in negotiating stolen goods 
was so great among the London “ crooks,” that he soon had 
all the work of that kind he wanted. While engaged in this 
business, he had himself wheeled about in a sedan-chair, 
employing a man to push it and assist him generally. 

Whopper was rather polished in his manners, of pleasing 
address, and I never heard him relate any of the vile tales or 
make use of the filthy language usual among English pris¬ 
oners, and too frequently heard from the mouths of warders 
in their conversations with them. He was a natural actor, 
and afforded us in the dormitory no end of amusement, some 
of his comic recitations, as he reclined in bed, causing convul¬ 
sions of laughter. Altogether, I take him to be the most 
contradictory and remarkable character I ever met, and one 
more example of the ruin which awaits all who once enter 
into a career of crime. 

We had been employed at knitting, and after I was re¬ 
moved from the dormitory for the reasons given, I continued 
that work in my cell, and was getting along as well as could 
be expected for one who was shut up all day and night in 
solitude — pet animals being prohibited. 

In the early summer of 1882, Dr. B came as the new 
medical officer; but after Dr. Yon Martin’s administration 
for one year, he had not much to do in the way of clearing 
out impostors; and owing to the warders reporting a good 
many genuine cases as able-bodied men, forty had been sent 
away previously to other stations, and I heard later that 


THE KNITTING PARTY. 


517 

twenty-two of these had died—a further example of how 
certain of the most cunning and determined prisoners injure 
and cause the death of many others, by feigning maladies to 
escape labor, thus imposing on the doctors. 

The first day the new medical officer »made his round, 
warder Abbot threw open the door of my cell and shouted, 
“ Attention! ” Doctor B on seeing me, asked the warder 
howl was getting on. “Very bad, sir,” he answered; “ he 
makes us all the trouble he can.” The fact is, 1 had been 
in the habit of ringing for the warder but once in the day. 
This is an example of how prisoners are prejudiced in the 
eyes of the authorities, and the best qualification a prison- 
doctor can have is that of ability to read under the surface 
and penetrate the tough shell of the various deceptions be¬ 
neath which the truth is hidden. Dr. Vane C. Clarke pos¬ 
sessed this qualification in an eminent degree, and the lack 
of it, as in Dr. B case, renders them but tools in the 

hands of unscrupulous warders. 

During the warm weather we were put out with the stock¬ 
ing-knitting party under a long open gallery which commanded 
a far-extended view of the beautiful country. Though we 
were hemmed in by high walls our longing eyes could roam at 
will over a space of country that was free. The fleecy clouds 
floating so lazily aloft made us long for liberty. The soft 
summer breeze blowing from the distant hills was untainted 
with the breath of slaves, and spoke to our hearts of freedom. 

It was here that I first saw D-, who was serving a 

life sentence for a series of forgeries that carried ruin to many 
people, including widows and orphans. I was seated beside 
him on the same bench — a row extending down the gallery 
on which were seated about one hundred men engaged in knit¬ 
ting stockings and in furtive whispering. It was rather 
amusing to see the warder march slowly up and down in front 
of the line of knitters, who, as he got a little past, would 
cease work and begin whispering eagerly to their neighbors. 
The warder turning saw every eye fixed intently on the work, 



518 THE dregs of an ill-spent life. 

the fingers making the needles fly as if their owners’ lives 
were at stake. In this way I had a great deal of stolen con¬ 
versation with D-. At this time, August, 1882, he was 

fifty-five, and had completed five years of his term — was 
crippled in one thigh by sciatica, and compelled to use crutches. 
He had been a London solicitor and contractor — one of his 
jobs having been the construction of the very canal which ran 
past within sight of where we sat, and the view must have 
awakened in him sharp pangs as he compared his former pros¬ 
perity with his present wretched condition. “ Here by my 
side,” I reflected, “ sits a man who has had every worldly 
advantage that money could give. From birth he has been 
surrounded with friends, received a good education, and the 
polish which only association with cultured people can confer ; 
and yet he has arrived at the same goal as the pickpocket who 
is sitting next to him, and who started from the gutter.” 

D-appeared to me a very nice, well-disposed gentle¬ 

man, and, although he was the cause of much ruin, I have no 
doubt that when he first found himself in financial difficulties 
he resorted to fraudulent practices believing he was as cer¬ 
tain to extricate himself as I was when I retained, tempora¬ 
rily, ten dollars of my employer’s cash. At the time of his 
disaster he had a wife and seven grown children, of whom he 
was very proud, often referring to them and to the fine educa¬ 
tion they had received. His great sorrow was that, through 
his business troubles, they had been obliged to forsake their 
former residence in the “ West End” of London, to give up 
their horses and carriage, and to be deprived of association 
with the society to which they had been accustomed. He 
could not have been a very bad man, for they still loved him 
and did all in their power to procure a pardon, coming to visit 
him every three months, and occasionally getting a special 
visiting-order from the Home Office. When arrested he was 
a strong, healthy, active man of fifty, but these five years of 
retribution had changed him into an old, decrepit valetudina¬ 
rian. Petition after petition was refused, but at last his 




DR BRAINE'S CAST-IRON ORDERS. £19 

faithful wife had the satisfaction of bringing him the glad 
tidings that the sentence had been reduced to ten years, and 
he was discharged shortly before myself. 

Here was a case where ruin had been wrought on many 
helpless persons, and his friends obtained his release from a 
life sentence after serving ten years — while my friends had 
a petition refused when I had done thirteen, and only suc¬ 
ceeded in getting me home in the fifteenth year by bringing 
to bear the most powerful influence. Others, who were guilt¬ 
less as compared with myself, are still held crushed within the 
Lion’s jaws; but then, we were Americans, and charged with 
putting our hands in the plethoric money-bags of the wealthi¬ 
est corporation in the world. 

It was very pleasant sitting beneath the shade of the gal¬ 
lery engaged in knitting, whispering, and gazing out at the 
extended landscape, or watching the fleecy clouds floating so 
majestically in the dull-blue English sky — so different from 
the cerulean of my own lost native land. I was incessantly 
repeating: “ Sail on, 0 fleecy clouds, you at least are free ! ” 
How often have I asked a fellow prisoner if he would like to 
lie upon one of them and sail away anywhere , so it should 
convey him into liberty ! Alas ! this relief to my long period 
of solitude in cells was too short; the summer was over, and 
the knitting-party was sent to the close shop, and we cripples 
kept in separate cells. 

Dr. B discharged four cripples from the Infirmary 
— had them placed in the same fireless dormitory where I 
had suffered so much the previous winter, and ordered that I 
should be put into it to work with the others during the work¬ 
ing hours, and then taken back to my cell. One of the new 
occupants of the dormitory was the ex-solicitor. During these 
working hours I suffered with cold. It was in vain that I ex¬ 
plained this to Dr. B ; his orders- were like those of 
the Medes, unchangeable. 

In consequence, I became cold and benumbed. I lived 
entirely on bread (twenty-two ounces, per day), and by the 


520 


A PLACE OF TORTURE. 


middle of January I had become unable to sit up, and I 
begged of the doctor to let me work in my cell. Dr. Braine 
would no longer believe the false reports of warder Abbot, 
and permitted me to remain in my own cell to work. 

On several occasions this warder, Abbot, had dragged me 
about by the collar, and given me kicks in the side with his 
heavy, hob-nailed boots. On the first of these occasions, when 
the governor (Bones) made his round, 1 complained of the 
violence in Abbot’s presence. When 1 had made the com¬ 
plaint, Governor Bones said: “ You are telling lies; no officer 
would dare do such a thing. You had better be careful how 
you make any such complaints against officers, or you will be 
severely punished,”—and away he tramped. 

When the irons and chains were put on me at Pentonville, 
Bones was governor there; and it was my misfortune, and 
that of hundreds of others, that he had been transferred to 
Woking. He could not do so much mischief at Pentonville, 
as the men were only there for nine months; but Woking— 
where a great many men were sent as invalids from the hard- 
labor stations of Chatham, Portland, Portsmouth, Dartmoor, 
and Wormwood Scrubs — became, under his supervision, an 
unrestricted place of torture, and warders were not long in dis¬ 
covering that they could commit any brutality on prisoners, 
save for the doctors, without fear of punishment. 

It was this governor who manipulated the Robinson mur¬ 
der, previously mentioned, in a way to clear the guilty warders 
and get the honest, humane one discharged from the service 
as a lunatic. But within eighteen months of the period to 
which I have brought my story, there was to be a resurrection 
at Woking of long-buried humanity, for it was already on the 
books that the governorship would then be transferred to the 
able hands of Dr. Vane C. Clarke. 

I cannot leave this part of my subject without recording 
that Abbot was a cavalryman, who was in the “ Charge of 
the Light Brigade ” in the Crimea, and for that reason alone 
he had received the appointment, of warder in the prison 
service. 


HELD FOR TWENTY-TWO YEARS —NO FRIENDS. 521 

Across the corridor, opposite our dormitory, there was a 
three-bedded one, in which were confined three other cripples. 
Two of these were taken to work in the tailors’ shop, and that 
the third might not be locked up in solitude all day — except¬ 
ing the hour’s exercise — he was brought to sit with us dur¬ 
ing working hours, in consequence of which I became well- 
acquainted with him. This was in 1882, and he had then 
been in prison without a break for twenty-nine years. His 
name was Pennock, and he was serving a “ life ” sentence for 
the murder of a youth, the crime being perpetrated in his 
eighteenth year. [A “ life ” sentence is one in which the con¬ 
vict was, previous to 1864, discharged after serving twelve 
years. Since 1864 a new act of Parliament has extended it to 
twenty years. A “ natural life ” sentence is only given in 
cases of murder or like enormities, and the convict has no 
hope of release except by death.] When Pennock had served 
eleven years and nine months he was permitted to grow his 
hair and beard, as usual, three months before being set at 
liberty. When the twelve years were fully expired he was 
dressed in citizen’s clothes and sent in charge of a warder to 
his former home. On making inquiries the warder ascer¬ 
tained that all his friends were dead. He applied to the town 
authorities for a permit to leave him at the workhouse, but 
was refused, and as he was a paralytic, unable to earn a 
livelihood save by begging, he was obliged to take him back 
to the prison, where he has since remained. In this year of 
our Lord Christ the Merciful, 1888, he will be serving his 
thirty-fourth year in prison, twenty-two of it since he was by 
law entitled to his liberty, and this because he is buried in a 
living grave and has had no means of making his condition 
known. Surely there are thousands who would rejoice to 
assist him to the opportunity of drawing a full breath of 
God’s free air before he dies. And this the more when they 
read the following account of his birth, and the circumstances 
under which he committed the crime. 

In addition to his infirmities, Pennock was born with an 


522 


A VOW FULFILLED. 


immense club-foot, the shoe I saw him have on being eight 
inches in diameter. By the use of a crutch he could walk 
after a fashion. While in the dormitory he would drop off 
into epileptic fits several times a day, and he informed me 
that he had been subject to them from birth, his general ap¬ 
pearance bearing out the statement. Every one knows what 
kind of a life such a deformed boy would have among other 
boys of whom he would be the butt. 

One of the neighboring boys plagued him so persistently 
for years, that at last Pennock conceived a deadly hatred 
against him and thirsted for that revenge which his physical 
debilities precluded him from taking with his fists. One day, 
when he was about eighteen, a friend of his married sister 
called at the house, leaving his loaded gun in the kitchen. 
Pennock had just returned fuming from fresh hectorings of 
his enemy, and spying the gun, he took it unobserved, went 
and hid himself in a hedge, and had but just concealed him¬ 
self when his foe appeared, whom he shot dead. 

That is his own version, and it is clear that there must 
have been very extenuating circumstances, or he would never 
have been let off for so execrable a crime with a sentence 
which the judge knew was equivalent to twelve years. 

He appeared to me a well-disposed man, of a peaceful, 
quiet disposition and religiously inclined, though he made 
no hypocritical professions in that direction. 

Although at the time I was myself almost hopeless of 
regaining my liberty, I vowed that if such an event ever 
came about I would make his case known where there are so 
many noble-hearted benefactors of the unfortunate. And 
here indeed is the miserable of miserables ! 

Despite my own black prospects I tried to console the 
poor fellow, and told him that if I lived to be freed and he was 
still alive, a breath of free air should expand his lungs before 
he died. Six years have passed since that promise was given, 
and now it stands as deeply in my heart as when it was given. 
He is at the Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight. 


Chapter XLVIII. 


WOKING CONVICT LUNATIC ASYLUM — SELF-MADE LUNATICS—VILE AND JAMES 
AGAIN—VILE’S RECEPTION OF A LUNATIC— “ WE CAN KILL A MAN AND 
LEAVE NO MARKS” — HOW THEY DO IT — LUNATIC IMPOSTORS AND THEIR 
DOINGS — THE WOKING HIGH PRIEST — “LIFE’S ACTION” — ROBBED OF THREE 
YEARS’ REMISSION — GOVERNMENTAL INCONSISTENCIES — JUSTICE VERSUS IN¬ 
JUSTICE. 

T was a merciful act to send those convicts who were 



1 really insane to a specially prepared prison where they 
could receive the care their condition deserved, for at the 
regular prisons they were unavoidably subjected to severe 
discipline, and consequent mistreatment, which aggravated 
their malady and gave little chance for improvement or 
recovery. Had it been possible to keep out the impostors, 
this would have accomplished the humane purpose intended 
by the board of prison commissioners; but this proved to 
be beyond the power of the most skilled and experienced 
doctors. It will be seen that scores of convicts “ put on the 
balmy ” so skillfully, and carried the imposture through with 
such perseverance, as to undergo successfully every test 
known to medical science, as well as the most terrible pun¬ 
ishments inflicted on them by the other prison authorities to 
break up their imposture. 

The first insane convicts who were sent to the criminal 
lunatic asylum in 1864, were either cured and sent back to 
finish their term of penal servitude, or on its completion 
were sent to the lunatic asylum of the county where they had 
been convicted. At all events, a large proportion eventually 
recovered their liberty, and it was not long before they were 
arrested in the commission of some crime, tried, convicted, 


( 523 ) 



524 


PUTTING ON THE BALMY. 


and returned to the public works prisons or convict estab¬ 
lishments. Here their talk, or rather whispering, with their 
fellow-prisoners naturally turned on their experiences at the 
prison lunatic asylum, then recently established at Broad¬ 
moor ; and it soon became known to the convicts throughout 
all Her Majesty’s prisons that those among them who were 
declared to be insane were sent to a place of comparative 
freedom, where they could act about as they pleased, perform 
little or no labor, or, in other words, receive the humane 
treatment which the better feeling prevalent in our time 
requires toward those unfortunates who have from any cause 
become irresponsible for their acts. As soon as this became 
known, numbers of men feigned insanity (in prison parlance, 
“put on the balmy”), and as the doctors were then unsus¬ 
picious, the tests applied were very easily borne, and after 
remaining in the hospital under observation for two or three 
weeks only, they were certified to be insane and sent away to 
Broadmoor. 

Cases of insanity now multiplied so rapidly that suspicion 
of imposture became a certainty, and the doctors gradually 
became more rigorous and applied tests which tried the phys¬ 
ical powers and determination of the most case-hardened and 
obstinate; so that by the time to which I have brought my 
personal history, 1883, those who were really insane, or who 
were feigning to be so, were subjected to the most terrible 
tests during three, six, twelve, or eighteen months, and few 
of the attempted impostors were able to withstand the ordeal. 

The penalty for “putting on the balmy” was usually a 
flogging with the. cat-o’-nine-tails, provided the doctor gave 
them over to the imtender mercies of the other prison author¬ 
ities; but unless the man was a very hard nut indeed, the 
doctors would not let him be reported, for in most cases, 
before he could be made to desist, he had undergone an 
amount of deprivation and suffering that should have been 
sufficient to satisfy the most rigorous martinet. 

The foregoing brief sketch will enable the reader to better 


A PRISON DIALOGUE. 525 

understand the whys and wherefores of the various incidents 
referred to. 

In the last chapter I had brought my story up to the 
spring of 1883, when I had been reduced very low by the 
peculiar attentions of warder Abbot, the ex-cavalry private. 
I was then sent up-stairs into B ward, the cells of which were 
used for hospital patients who for any reason were not allowed 
to remain in one of the large hospital wards — the former 
charges of attempting to escape from Newgate and Penton- 
ville being the alleged reason for my confinement in cells 
since March, 1873 — ten long years. B ward was in charge 
of Vile and assistant warder James; the one Vile by name, 
both utterly vile and corrupt by nature. Some of the cells 
were also used for “ observation ” of those who were sus¬ 
pected of feigning insanity; and under the warders named, 
all such, genuine cases or otherwise, truly had a hard road to 
travel. 

When a new patient was sent into the ward, a scene very 
much like the following was enacted: 

Vile (to prisoner, in a loud, menacing voice ) — Stand there 
against the wall! ( Then standing in front of him.) What’s 
your name ? 

Prisoner—John Smith. 

Vile (looks menacingly a moment, then giving him a heavy 
punch with the fist in the stomach ) — Stand up straight, you 
scoundrel! What’s the matter with you ? 

Prisoner—Nothing, only those women are following me 
about day and night! 

Vile— Putting on the balmy, you-! Take that! 

(giving him another punch.) I’ll learn you to say “Sir” 
when you answer me! 

And so on, for a half-hour, just outside of my cell door, 
Vile winding up by pointing to a cell and shouting: “ Go in 

there, you-!” and as the prisoner turned to go, he 

received a helper in the rear from the toe of the warder’s 
heavy boot. 




526 the man who hois “operated” upon. 

I have seen warder Vile strike a man with his fist on the 
chest and back twenty or thirty heavy blows, and kick him 
with his hob-nailed boots. I have seen assistant warder 
James do the same thing, and I have been present when he 
stripped a patient stark naked, dragged him out of bed, and 
while he lay nude upon his back on the floor, walk up and 
down his body, standing full weight with both feet on his 
chest and abdomen. James weighed one hundred and eighty 
pounds. All this would be done in a way, well understood 
by prison warders, that left no external bruise or mark, but 
was pretty certain to bring on heart, liver, or other com¬ 
plaints, of which the man was likely to die. I have heard 
one of the men thus treated complain to Dr. Braine in the 
presence of those warders; but as the doctor, on examination, 
could discover no marks, he took no notice of the complaint 
—the warders standing by with such an honest, innocent 
expression of indignation, apparently, mingled with pity for 
the mendacity of the prisoner who dared tell the doctor such 
“ audacious falsehoods,” that even their victim was abashed, 
and faltered so that the doctor left with the impression 
that the warders were much-enduring men of humanity and 
integrity. 

[It may be as well to state that I am the man who was 
“ operated ” upon, as described.] 

In 1884, the board of prison commissioners having decided 
to break up and do away with the Woking prisons, the con¬ 
victs able to be removed to other stations were sent away; I 
being crippled was sent to the west wing, which was used for 
the confinement of convict lunatics who were to remain until 
a special wing for their accommodation should be erected at 
Broadmoor. 

In the C hospital ward there were twenty-four beds for 
patients, twelve of which were in cells, the remainder in an 
open ward where I was located. 

There were three wards, A the lower, B the second floor, 
and C the upper. The whole prison was surrounded by a 


THE GAME OF CHESS RE VIVED. 


527 



brick wall about twenly-five feet in height. The west wing, 
or lunatic wing, was cut off from the rest of the prison by a 
cross-wall, and the space around it, within the wall of cir- - 
cumvallation, was divided by walls into three yards, one 
for dangerous lunatics ; the largest, comprising about an acre, 
was used for a flower and vegetable garden, which some of 
the inmates could cultivate for themselves. 

The prisoners here were all considered patients and were 
under the special charge of the medical officer and his assist¬ 
ants. When it did 
not storm the pa¬ 
tients were out in 
the garden two hours 
in the fdrenoon, and 
the same in the af¬ 
ternoon. They were 
also in the recrea¬ 
tion-room from half¬ 
past eleven to one 
o’clock, and from 
half-past four to six 
p. m., so that they 
passed only eighteen 
hours out of the twenty-four in their cells or dormitories; 
those who worked out on the farm or in the wash-house 
having still less time to pass in them. 

When I was for the first time in the recreation-room I at 
once noticed a set of chess-men, but these had never been 
used, as no one understood the game. Board and men 
were brought out, and I soon had so many apt pupils that I 
was obliged to make three other sets of men. I mixed some 
porridge, bread, and sand into dough, modeled them into shape, 
and they answered the purpose admirably. 

The place had been fitted for convict-lunatics, and furnished 
with every facility usually found in free insane asylums for the 
employment of the minds of the inmates; but the conduct of 
twenty or thirty of those who had got there by imposing on 


MENDING BELLOWS. 











528 


RIOTOUS IMPOSTORS. 



the doctors had caused a gradual reduction of those facilities 
and privileges. 

These pretended lunatics had taken advantage of the situ¬ 
ation and cared for nothing but their own indulgences, at 
the expense of those who were really insane. They were the 
most hardened, desperate, and depraved characters that the 
English system of imprisonment could produce — and that is 
saying a great deal. 

A majority of them had cicatrices on their backs left by 
the cat-o’-nine-tails. Every day there were ring fights in the 

yard, which the war¬ 
ders enjoyed, and 
stood around to see 
fair play. 

Within the pris¬ 
on they smashed up 
the furniture and 
even destroyed the 
specialties so hu¬ 
manely provided by 
the government for 
those doubly unfor¬ 
tunate wretches, 
convict lunatics, who 
were really insane. Billiard and bagatelle tables, books, 

' and pictures, were willfully mutilated by these reckless impos¬ 
tors. They played upon the infirmities of the really insane 
and imbecile, recking not how much these were injured, pro¬ 
vided they themselves had “ a lot of fun ” out of the poor crea¬ 
tures. 

There were some strange characters in this unique institu¬ 
tion. One man believed that the prison was Solomon’s tem¬ 
ple, and himself the high priest. In the course of years he 
had with infinite labor worked down and polished veined 
stones, which were common in that part of England, into 
imitation cameos and other really fine works of art. With 
these he had made a breast-plate, also imitated all the other 


MASONS AT WORK. 













Chatham.— CONVICTS AT LABOR. 















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































DICKENS (NOT CIIARLES). 


529 


parts of the costume of a high priest made from precious 
stones. In order to keep him quiet the doctor had given him 
materials, and he had rigged himself out in the full costume 
of a high priest, except that the hat was ornamented with 
feathers. Following the doctor’s cue, the warders humored 
his “ craze,” and every Sabbath formed a body guard for him 
while he marched in state to the chapel. 

Another man, by the name of Dickens, believed himself 
the greatest poet on earth, and had written a play, showing 
up the horrors of war. The plot and plan of the play were 
really good, but it was written without rhyme or reason. 
Pie had named it “ Life’s Action,” and this sobriquet had 
taken the place of his own name. “ Life’s Action ” was con¬ 
tinually spouting portions of his drama. He took a particular 
fancy to me, and used to recite it to me by the hour. At 
the time I was composing a good deal of rhyme myself, 
and although he thought his own incomparable, after I had 
altered a few lines of it for him he was so much pleased 
that he wished me to go through the whole, but so secretly 
that no one should suspect that I had a hand in u Life’s 
Action.” As it was my custom while among the insane 
there to do anything in my power to benefit or to give 
healthy occupation to their diseased minds, of course I ac¬ 
ceded to his wishes. He brought me his manuscript book, 
and I rewrote the whole, following his style in a general 
way, cutting out incoherencies and filling in where required, 
so that when it left my hands it certainly possessed some 
metre, rhyme, and reason. I would write a slate full at a 
time, this he would take and copy on foolscap which the 
doctor allowed, while I was filling another slate. When 
we had completed the job he was so highly delighted, and 
in the same degree so fearful that any one should discover 
the changes were not his own, that he took the old manu¬ 
script and put it in the stove, so that there could be no 
comparison of the old and new. This man Dickens had 
received a sentence of fifteen years’ penal servitude for at- 
34 


530 


SANE SAVE A “HOBBY.” 


tempting to shoot his wife and then himself. He was of a 
respectable family, a distant cousin of the great novelist. 

“ While on the public works eleven years,” said Dickens, 
“ I composed 6 Life’s Action ’ with only a slate to write on, 
and committed it to memory as fast as it was composed. 
You see what a splendid work it is, and because I used to 
recite it, they put me down ‘ balmy,’ and instead of sending 
me home when I had done eleven and a half years, they are 
keeping me among these insane people and forcing me to 
serve the whole fifteen years, thus depriving me of the 
three and one-half years of fairly earned freedom.” 

Indeed this last was a real grievance, and the case of 
Dickens was a type of many other genuine cases of insanity 
which came under my notice during the three and one-half 
years that I was located in the lunatic wing. This is the 
injustice — nay, robbery — which, if perpetrated by a private 
individual instead of by the British Government, would in 
the eyes of every right-feeling person be considered not only 
a base and dishonorable, but a criminal act, which should 
consign the doer to a period of seeing how the world looked 
from inside the grates, and long enough to give plenty of 
time for contemplation of his turpitude. 

In the aggregate a large number of men have earned the 
legal remission of a portion of the original sentence, and 
on showing signs of hallucination on one subject — though 
right enough in all others — instead of giving them their 
liberty at the time stipulated, they are sent from all the 
convict establishments to the lunatic wing at Woking, where 
they are kept till the full term of the sentence has expired. 

For example, Dickens was as sensible as ordinary men 
on all subjects save that of his hobby, “ Life’s Action.” He 
had a good trade, was industrious, and, despite his hallucina¬ 
tion, was quite capable of earning a livelihood, and withal 
was an honest man. His general principles were good; he 
had been in the lunatic wing some years when I first saw 
him there, and had seen an unlimited number of the horrible 


THE CRIME OF SICKNESS. 


531 


abuses prevalent before and after my arrival. It would re¬ 
quire another volume to recount what I saw myself. Dick¬ 
ens was inoffensive, careful not to infringe the rules, and 
never got into trouble with any one. At the time I first 
knew him he wore the special blue dress, the possession of 
which proved that he had earned his three and one-half 
years remission, therefore entitled to his liberty, also that he 
bore a good prison character. He fretted constantly at 
being retained in prison so unjustly, and I am sure it was 
of great injury to his mind. The reason assigned was that 
the w r orkhouses or asylums of the places whence the con¬ 
victs were sent would not receive insane men until they had 
served out the full term of their sentence, and this because 
for that length of time the county or township could throw 
upon the general government the expense of maintaining them. 
A reason indeed for a glaring wrong against a defenseless 
class who are additionally punished on account of their in¬ 
firmities ! And this permitted to go on thirty years by the 
all-powerful central government! 

While on the subject I beg to call the attention of my 
readers to another almost equal robbery, only the sufferers 
are not yet lunatics: The doctors have become so skillful, 
and their tests so thorough, that it is seldom a man can 
sham sickness so successfully as to obtain admission to the 
hospital. Yet the moment a sick man is admitted into 
the hospital his remission marks cease, and I have known 
instances in which men had to remain in prison eighteen 
months longer on a seven years’ sentence solely because they 
were sicJc. 

During my imprisonment I was occasionally granted a 
blank form on which I wrote petitions in my own behalf, but 
invariably the reply was the same as in the facsimile of one 
of the refusals of the English government to grant my release, 
the application having been presented by the Hon. John R. 
Buck, the influential Representative of the First district of 
Connecticut in Congress. 


532 


ANOTHER PETITION REFUSED. 





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Chapter XLIX. 


DEEP (NOT “URIAH”) — A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE — AT FIFTEEN HE ESCAPES FROM 
A LUNATIC ASYLUM — OBTAINS A SITUATION — ROBS HIS EMPLOYER — ESCAPE 
FROM RAYNELL ASYLUM — STEALS AN ATTENDANT’S SUIT—GETS FIVE YEARS 
PENAL SERVITUDE AT CHATHAM — SENT FROM PRISON BACK TO THE ASYLUM — 
ESCAPES NUDE WITH SHAVED AND BLISTERED HEAD — HOW HE GOT A SUIT — 
HOW HE LEARNED THE PAINTERS’ TRADE — HOW HE GOT A SECOND TERM OF 
SEVEN YEARS—“FETCHES” THE WOKING LUNATIC WING — DISCHARGE AND 
DEPARTURE FOR AMERICA — HE RETURNS — GETS A THIRD TERM OF TEN 
YEARS — BLEEDING —STRAIGHT-JACKET — FOURTEEN MONTHS WITHOUT EATING 
— AN ORIGINAL PETITION AND “ POEM ” BY NIBLO CLARK. 


I N the early spring of 1884 I was transferred into an asso¬ 
ciation dormitory of twelve beds — these being about four 
feet apart. In the bed next to mine was a prison genius 
named Heep, who was one of the most singular characters I 
ever met. As I shall have occasion to speak of him fre¬ 
quently up to the time of my release, I may as well give here 
a sketch of his life as related to me by himself. He was born 
in the town of Macclesfield, near Manchester, in 1852, of re¬ 
spectable mechanics, or trades-people as they are called in 
England. His father died when Heep was about five years 
of age, and after a time his mother married a carpenter and 
joiner of the place. 

Young Heep was a lively child, up to all sorts of tricks, 
and does not remember the time since he could walk that he 
was not in some mischief, and, as he remarked, “ took to all 
sorts of deviltry as naturally as a duck to water.” As long 
as his own father lived there was not much check on his mis¬ 
chievous propensities, but his step-father proved to be a severe 
and stern judge, and brought him to book for every irregular¬ 
ity, thrashing him most unmercifully for each offense. His 
mother could not have filled her maternal duty very judi- 

(588) 



534 


GREEK TOO MUCH FOR HIM. 


ciously, judging from the fact that before he was twelve years 
old she set him to follow and watch his step-father to the 
house of a woman of whom she was jealous. The boy pos¬ 
sessed great natural abilities, and in good hands would have 
turned out something different than a life-long prison drudge. 
He was handsome, genteel in appearance, an apt scholar, 
though very self-willed and headstrong, and as he grew up his 
naturally hot temper became uncontrollable. At an early age 
he had discovered that by threats of self-injury he could bend 
his parents to his wishes, but found in his step-father one who 
would put up with no nonsense; even when he cut himself so 
as to bleed freely, instead of the coveted indulgence it only 
procured him an additional thrashing. 

At fifteen he had become ungovernable at home, and his 
father had him put in the county insane asylum, where he 
remained a year and a half. While there he caused so much 
trouble that the attendants were only too glad when he 
escaped and went to Liverpool. Here he succeeded in get¬ 
ting a situation with a dealer in bric-a-brac, rare books, and 
antiquities. In a short time the proprietor placed so much 
.confidence in his integrity that he gave him the charge of 
his place during his own absences, and young Heep was not 
-long in taking advantage of his position to rob his employer 
by taking a book or other article which he sold to some one 
of his master’s customers. This went on for some time 
until on one occasion he took a book to a shop kept by a 
woman to whom he had previously sold several articles and 
offered it for a sovereign. She examined it and found that 
it was an ancient, illuminated Greek manuscript, worth fifty 
times more than the price young Heep asked for it, and, 
suspecting something wrong, she told him to come again 
for the money the next evening. At the appointed time he 
entered the place and was confronted by his master, who 
contented himself with upbraiding him for his perfidy, and 
discharging him from his service. 

At this period of his career he had contracted vicious 


CULTIVATES THE FINE ARTS. 


535 

habits, the most pernicious for him being that of drink, 
for when sober he was in his right mind, but the moment 
the drink was in — like Edgar A. Poe — his common sense 
departed, and he became a raving maniac, ready to fight or 
perpetrate any other act of folly. 

Up to this time he had never associated with thieves, and 
had been tempted to steal only in order to supply means for 
improper indulgences. 

Not long after being discharged from his situation he was 
found by the police acting in so insane a manner under the 
influence of drink, that the magistrate before whom he was 
taken had him sent to the Raynell lunatic asylum. Here, 
being perfectly reckless, he carried on all sorts of games 
which made him obnoxious, although making himself very 
useful in work which he liked, such as gardening, etc. He 
also took up fancy painting and soon became a skillful copy¬ 
ist of prints of any description, enlarging or reducing, and 
painting them in oil or water colors. He also became a good 
decorator and scene-painter, besides devoting time to various 
studies, including music. 

At last he found means to effect his escape and lay in 
hiding until night, then as he had on the asylum clothes, 
which would betray him, he went back and got in through 
the window of the tailors’ shop, which was in an isolated 
building, and exchanged the clothes he had on for a suit 
belonging to one of the attendants. Thinking himself now 
safe from recognition he started off across the country, but 
had not gone more than twenty miles when, in passing 
through a small town, a policeman who had just heard of 
the escape from Raynell, arrested him on suspicion. 

The Raynell authorities sent some one to identify him; he 
was taken back, tried on the charge of stealing the attendant’s 
suit of clothes, which he still had on, was convicted by the 
usual “intelligent” jury and sentenced to five years penal 
servitude. 

Let the reader mark this and what follows, then compare 


536 


BARELY ESCAPED . 


it with the fact that no person certified by the doctors to be of 
unsound mind can according to English law be tried for any 
offense whatever. He finished his term of imprisonment at 
Chatham and instead of being set at liberty was sent under 
guard back to the asylum! 

According to English law, if a person confined in a lunatic 
asylum escapes and keeps away fourteen days he cannot after 
that be arrested, until he commits fresh acts of insanity. 

After several futile attemps he at last made good his 
escape and obtained work with a farmer, where he remained 
safe for thirteen days, and was congratulating himself that in 
less than another day he would be free, when his thoughts 
were broken off by the appearance of two attendants who 
seized and carried him back to the asylum. 

The events above narrated had driven him into a state of 
desperation at what he felt to be gross injustice, and he 
carried on in such a way that the doctor ordered his head to 
be shaved and blistered as a punishment, the straight-jacket 
and all other coersive measures having been of no avail. The v 
night watchmen had orders to watch him closely, but he 
kept so sharp an eye on the watchman that he caught him 
asleep, and creeping to the closet window, which he had pre¬ 
viously tampered with, crept out, and after climbing the 
low wall found himself on a raw November night, with the 
rain falling in torrents, a stark-naked, head-shaved-and-blis- 
tered, but once more a free man. In this condition he wan¬ 
dered on throughout the night, and just before daylight he 
entered a cemetery to find that refuge among the dead of 
which he thought himself so cruelly deprived by the living. 

Beneath the entrance to the church there was a passage 
which led to some family vaults in the basement, and he 
crept down the passage to seek some shelter for his nude 
body from the driving rain, which had chilled him through. 
While groping about in the dark his hand rested on some¬ 
thing soft, which, to his unbounded delight, proved to be an 
old coat which had probably been left there by the sexton, 


A TRAVELING “SCARECROW 


537 

and forgotten. He remained hidden all day, and traveled 
through the fields all night, during which he found a “ scare¬ 
crow,’ from which he transferred to his own person its old 
hat and trousers. 

He said that although so hungry, he never had felt so 
happy as he did at finding himself oifce more “ dressed up.” 
After proceeding a few miles farther, he ventured into a 
laborer’s cottage in quest of food, which was given him, and 
with it a pair of old boots. As dilapidated, ragged, vagabond¬ 
looking, honest people are common in England, no questions 
were asked, and he proceeded on his way, rejoicing in that 
freedom of which he had been deprived for ten years or more. 

Amidst all his pranks he had never been charged with 
idleness, and now worked at odd jobs about the farms until 
he had procured a decent suit of clothes, when he applied to 
a master house-painter for work as a journeyman, though he 
had never done anything of that kind. The master, pleased 
with his appearance, gave him a trial, but the first job showed 
such ignorance of the art of house-painting that he was forth¬ 
with discharged with a half day’s wages. However, he had 
picked up some valuable hints, and being very apt, by the 
time he had been more or less summarily discharged from 
half a dozen places, he had become a good workman, and 
henceforth had no trouble about retaining any situation as 
long as he refrained from beer and restrained his temper; 
but at the slightest fault-finding on the part of the master, he 
would fly into a passion and throw up his situation, and this, 
especially, if he suspected that anything had leaked out about 
his imprisonment. 

While at work with a companion at painting the interior 
of a gentleman’s residence near Bradford, a word or two was 
dropped which made him believe his fellow-workman had 
become aware of his being an ex-convict. Quitting work, he 
went to a public house, passing the rest of the day in carous¬ 
ing. About midnight, while on his way to his boarding-house, 
it occurred to him that he had noticed a good many valuable 


538 


A TRIP TO AMERICA. 


things about the gentleman’s house which he could obtain. 
No sooner thought than done; the entrance was in a moment 
gained; he had just consciousness enough left to gather a few 
things, then lie down by the side of them and fall into a 
drunkard’s sleep, in which the servants found him when they 
came down in the morning. A constable was sent for, he 
was given in charge, tried, convicted of the crime of burglary, 
and sentenced to seven years penal servitude. 

His former term of five years had made him a proficient 
in all the dodges of prison life, and he felt justified in his 
own mind in using all his craft in order to put in his seven 
years as easily as possible. As he had been in Raynell asy¬ 
lum, he knew that by “ putting on the balmy ” so as to be 
sent to the lunatic department, he would not be subjected to 
the prison rules, and be as well off as he had been in the free 
asylums. Persistent attempts at suicide by cutting himself 
in the arms and legs with a piece of glass so as to bleed 
freely, accomplished his purpose. Being placed with the 
other convict lunatics at Woking, he made himself useful as 
a gardener, but on account of his bad temper and overbearing, 
quarrelsome disposition, obnoxious to his fellow-prisoners. 

However, when he had served about five years and six 
months, Dr. Campbell gave him his remission-marks and 
sent him away, as usual in such cases, to Dartmoor prison a 
month before the time his ticket-of-leave would be due. From 
there he was discharged with an eighteen-months ticket-of- 
leave, and two dollars and fifty cents as capital for a “ new 
departure.” 

He went to Liverpool, procured a passage on board a 
freight-steamer to America, which he paid for by working at 
painting. Landing at New York, he made his way to Nor¬ 
folk, Va., where he procured work as a painter. Owing to 
his infirmity of temper he did not keep his place long, and 
after knocking about for a few months he took a freak to 
return to England—the last place of all for any man who 
has once been in prison. 


LEAP FROM A FAST TRAIN . 


539 


Once more in his native land, he procured work without 
difficulty at house-painting, but, as usual, remained in one 
place but a very short time. His earnings, like those of a 
great majority of the working class in England, were squan¬ 
dered in the public house— 

The glittering rum-shop’s legal snare, 

The children’s curse and wives’ despair. 

Soon after the events just recorded, Heep concluded to 
visit his old home in Macclesfield. He accordingly threw up 
his situation, and arrived at the railway station an hour before 
the train was due. In order to while away the time, he en¬ 
tered a public house (as all places retailing spirits and beer 
are called in England), and drank several glasses of ale. 
The compartment which he entered happened to be empty, 
and as usual whenever he indulged his appetite for anything 
containing alcohol, he was soon quite out of his mind and 
fancied that some one on the train was coming to murder 
him, and leaped headlong from the train, which was going at 
the rate of forty miles an hour. This came to a standstill, he 
was taken on board again, not seriously injured, and left at 
Wrexham in Denbighshire, from which he was sent to the 
Denbigh Insane asylum. This being a Welsh institution, 
did not, according to Heep, possess those facilities for enjoy¬ 
ing life which were so liberally supplied to the inmates of the 
Raynell asylum near Liverpool. Accordingly he behaved 
himself with so much propriety that the doctor discharged 
him as cured. 

Not long after his return he got work near Manchester, at 
painting in a block of new houses where the plumbers were 
at work putting in the gas and water pipes. On a Saturday, 
when he left work at noon, he met a young plumber who was 
out of a job. This man said he knew where he could earn a 
sovereign if he had tools to do a job in a butcher-shop, and 
told Heep that if he would go to the houses where he had 
been painting, and borrow a few plumbers’ tools and assist 
him, he would divide the amount. Heep went back, but 


540 


THE PLUMBER'S KNIFE. 


finding that the master plumber and all his men had gone 
(Saturday afternoon in England being a half-holiday for 
laborers), he took the few tools required, went and finished 
the job by 7 P. M. ; then instead of taking the tools back, they 
went into a public house where they caroused till midnight, 
when they separated, Heep taking the tools to his boarding¬ 
house. On Monday he started early, so as to get the tools 
back before the other workmen arrived. On nearing the 
houses he passed a policeman who walked a little lame. He 
turned his head to look back, and the policeman happened to do 
the same thing, and seeing' Heep looking at him his suspicions 
were aroused. Turning back, he came up and asked him 
what he had in the two bosses (tool baskets). Heep informed 
him, and on further questioning showed him the key to the 
house from which he had taken the tools, and asked him to 
accompany him there, which he did. They entered, Heep put 
back the tools and showed the policeman where he had been 
painting, and wished him to stay until the master came in 
half an hour. This the policeman declined to do, and took 
the tools and told Heep to come to the police station. 

Heep lost his temper, and began cursing him. The police¬ 
man went to the door, and seeing another just passing, beck¬ 
oned him in, and the two marched him to the station. The 
plumber was sent for, and was induced to make a charge 
against Heep and value the stolen goods at ten shillings. 
Seeing that the police were bound to make a case against 
him by hook or crook (crook, he says), he seized the 
plumber’s knife and cut his throat, severing the wind-pipe. 
The doctor was sent for, he was transferred to the jail hos¬ 
pital, and in the course of two or three weeks was well 
enough to appear before the magistrate, though he could not 
speak, and was bound over for trial. 

In the meantime the police had discovered that he had 
served two penal terms, on the strength of which, when 
convicted, the magistrate sentenced him to ten years penal 
servitude. 


A PATENT-LEVER JAW-OPENER. 


541 

At the trial he had not yet recovered the use of his 
voice, nor did he have any one to defend him, for at that 
time, unlike the present, the crown did not furnish a lawyer 
for the defense of those who were unable to employ one at 
their own expense. When the magistrate was about to pro¬ 
nounce the sentence, he said that as the prisoner had escaped 
from ordinary asylums he should send him to a place from 
which he could not escape — meaning the convict lunatic 
asylum. 

He was in the next bed, confined in a straight-jacket to 
prevent him from cutting and bleeding himself, which he 
managed to do despite every precaution. On one occasion, 
when the jacket was taken off for breakfast, he had torn 
open a vein of his arm with a broken nail; on another his 
bed was found saturated with blood, a bit of glass being 
found at the bottom of one of the pockets of the straight- 
jacket, with which he had managed to cut himself. All 
this time he refused to eat any of his regular food so that the 
doctors were obliged to feed him. To do this it was neces¬ 
sary to lay the patient on his back, and, in this case, to in¬ 
sert the edges of a patent-lever jaw-opener between the 
molars, then by turning a screw the levers opened, of course 
forcing apart the jaws of the most determined jaw-shutter. 
The first time it was applied to Heep he held his jaws 
so firmly together that one of his teeth broke off. The 
mouth having been forced wide open, a large iron gag 
a foot in length is put across the mouth, and a warder 
stands at his head pressing down heavily on each end, so as 
to force it down as far as the open jaws will let it go. Next 
the gutta-percha tube i-inch in diameter is inserted through 
a hole in the center of the gag and pushed down into the 
stomach. A funnel is attached to the upper end of the tube 
and a quart of fluid food poured in; this operation is usually 
performed twice a day. I saw a number of men fed in that 
way, one of them named Jack Collins for fourteen months, 
during which time he never swallowed any food. 

The reader will, of course, remember the prison character, 


542 


NIBLO CLARK'S PETIT;OK. 


Niblo Clark. Since the chapter in which he is referred to 
was written an original petition of his, in “ prose and poe¬ 
try,” has been forwarded to me. As there is but little in 
this book of a wholly humorous nature, the accompanying 
decidedly “ original ” document cannot fail to counteract the 
effect of some of the horrors heretofore depicted. The peti¬ 
tion is copied verbatim et literatim: 


Printed at H. M. Convict Prison, | 

Brixton. ) 

PETITION. 


No. 413c 


Register No. Y19. Name , Niblo Clark. 

Present Age , If). Confined in Dartmoor Prison. 

Date of Petition , January 15, 1810. 


Convicted. 

Crime. 

Sentence. 

Remarks. 

When. 

1873. 

Where. 

Old Bailey, 
London. 

Burglary. 

15 Years. 

In Hospital. 
Troublesome. 


To the Right Honorable R. A. Cross, Her Majesty’s Principal 
Secretary of State for the Home Department. 

The Petition of Niblo Clark, a Prisoner in the Dartmoor Prison, 
Humbly Sheweth — 

The Right Honorable Secretary the great benefit your humble 
petitioner would derive by a speedy removal from this damp and 
foggy inhospitable Climate to a milder one ; the atmostphere here 
his thoroughly prejudicial to your petitioners health and causes me 
to be a great Sufferer i am Suffering from asthma accompanied 
with bad attacks of Chronic bronchitis and have been now 3 long 
years Confined to a bed of Sickness in a Sad and pitiable Condition 
and upon those Clear grounds and physical proofs your petitioner 
humbly prays that it may please the Right Honorable Secretary to 
order my removal to a warmer and milder Climate 

necessity also compels me to complain of repeated acts of injus¬ 
tice and Cruely committed again me and which in some respects 
Might Justly undergo the imputation of ferocity there are numbers 
and frivolous and false charges conspired against me and every 
time i am discharged from here the Governor takes them Seperate 
one each and trys to murder me : i have been No less then Six 
weeks at one time on bread and Water accompanied with a little 
penal Class and all the officers are incouraged to practise all kinds 










TENN YSON 0 UTD ONE. 


543 


of barbarious maltreatment against me and other sick men — tberes 
is one officer here place here for the express purpose of tantelizing 
me and other his Name is Warder Newcombe this officer sir has 
barbariously struck and assaulted patients on there Sick bed and 
Several has complained of it to the Governor — But i am Sorry to 
say its greatly fostered and incouraged especially upon me it is 
quite useless to complain of anything to the Governor 

Right Honourable Sir i humbly beg that you will listen to my woe 
for what i Suffer in dartmoor prison the one half you do not Know 
From repeated attacks of this frightful disease i am getting worse each day 
So i humbly trust you will have me removed without the least delay 

In making my request in poetry Sir i hope you wont think i am Joking 
for the greatest favour you can bestowe upon me is to Send me back to Woking 
For in this damp and foggy Climate its impossible to ever get better 
So i humbly trust in addition to this you will grant me a Special letter 

Another little case i wish to State if you Sir will Kindly listen 

has it would Cause a Vast amount of talk all round and about the prison 

I mean if Niblo Clark Should be sent upon some public Works 

it would cause more talk then the late dispute between the russians and the turks 

in foggy wheather with my disease it would be impossible to larst one hour 
and if you doubt the accuracy of what i say i refere to doctor Power 
or any other naval doctor or one from plymouth garrison 
they one and all would say the Same and likewise Doctor Harrison 

Since my reception in dartmoor prison i have been a most unfortunate man 
and i will tell you the why and wherefore as well as i possibly Can 
for every time i been in this hospital its the whole truth what i Say 
for my medical treatment i assure Sir i have dearly had to pay 

A regular marked man i have been for them all its w r ell known to Captain Harris 

for the list of reports against me w r ould reach from dartmoor to paris 

So i humbly beg Right Honourable Sir you will grant this humble petition 

for i am sorry to State i have nothing to pay having lost both health and remission 

Such Cruel injustice to poor Sick men is far from being just and right 

but to report Sick patients in hospital is the officers Chief delight 

But perhaps kind Sir you might imagine that they only do this to a dodger 

But its done to all — George Bid well as well and likewise to poor Sir Roger [Tichborne]. 

like Savage lions in this infirmary the Officers about are walking 
to Catch and report a dying poor man for the frivolous Charge of talking 
and when we go out from hospital our poor bodies they try to Slaughter 
by taking those reports one at the time and Killing us on bread and water 

I am suffering a Chest and throat disease a frightful Chronic disorder 

and to go out from hospital is attempting Suicide to get heaps of bread and Water 

for it is such cruel treatment made me as i am and brought me to the Verge of the grave 

So in conclusion Right Honourable Sir a removal i humbly Crave 

if this petition should not be sent prisoners abstains from further 
writting who will explain his case more Clearly to the Visiting 
director and i wish to have this petition Submitted to the director 
Signed Niblo Clark 


Chapter L. 


THE ULTIMATE FATE OF FORGERS—“OLD PATCH,” THE FIRST BANK OF ENGLAND 
FORGER — WILKES, THE RAILWAY MAN — HE FIRST BECOMES A GAMBLER, THEN 
A FORGER—GEORGE ENGLES’ FINALE — WILSON, VANDERPOOL, -ALIAS BROCK¬ 
WAY, CHARLES BECKER, JOE CHAPMAN, GEORGE BELL, ROBERT S. BALLARD, 
THOMAS BALLARD, WALTER SHERIDAN, FRANK KIBBE, LITTLE ELLIOTT, W. H. 
LYMAN, STEPHEN RAYMOND, PERRINE, DAN NOBLE, WILLIAMSON, ROSENCRANZ, 
ALIAS WISE, ETC., SPENCE PETTIS, GEORGE WATSON, VAN ETTEN, LEWIS COLE, 
CHARLES LISTER, AND JOHN NT MILLER, FORGERS. 

A S a fitting close to my book I have thought it best to 
give some account of the fate of the great modern 
forgers who have obtained so many millions of other people’s 
dollars by dishonesty. It will be found that these millions 
have in most cases been dissipated without having conferred 
any benefit — rather the reverse — on their short-sighted pos¬ 
sessors. 

I may, however, note here that the first Bank of England 
forgery was in the year 1T84. It was done by “ Old Patch,” 
thus nicknamed because he wore a black patch over one eye 
as a disguise. He had been a lottery-office keeper, a stock¬ 
broker, and gambler. To save being hanged at Tyburn he 
hanged himself in Newgate. 

Wilkes, the forger, was born in Orange County, N. Y., in 
1837. At twenty-seven he left the employ of the Erie Rail¬ 
way Company, where he had been seven years. It was not 
long after this epoch in his life that I became acquainted with 
him through Hilton, followed by the abortive attempt to get 
Bowen, McNamee & Co.’s forged acceptances cashed in Wall 
Street. He made various trips to England and the Continent 
—once with Engles — and not less than one or two millions 
of dollars must have been obtained by them in Europe from 

( 544 ) 



THE RIGHT HONORABLE HENRY MATTHEWS, Q. C. 
Her Majesty’s Home Secretary of State, 1S87. 




WILKES , ENGLES , ET AL. 545 

1873 to 1885, while we were kept in prison as scarecrows 
•to frighten them away. 

George Engles, after squandering a million dollars or 
more, died prematurely, leaving his family destitute. 

Wilson, one of the Engles and Wilkes gang, is forty-eight 
years of age, and has not long completed a term of twelve 
years in Canada, and by the time these lines come under the 
reader’s notice, will in all probability be again in prison. 

Yanderpool, alias Brockway, is now past sixty-three years 
of age. He has served three or more terms of imprisonment; 
the last, which expired in 1886, was eight years for forgery 
at Providence, R. I. 

Charles Becker is, like Engles, a German. He is an 
expert engraver, and worked for Engles, to my knowledge, as 
far back as 1871. He tried to “beat” the Turks, was appre¬ 
hended and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment at Smyrna, 
but not liking the quarters in Constantinople to which he 
had been consigned, took French leave after a few months’ 
confinement. Returning to America, he has recently com¬ 
pleted a term of six and one-half years in the Kings County 
Penitentiary. 

Joe Chapman, who accompanied Engles to Europe, was 
arrested in London in 1878, and served a five-years’ term in 
England. After serving several terms previously, he was not 
long since, and may be still, in prison at Munich, Bavaria, for 
passing Engles’s forged paper on bankers. 

George Bell is forty-two years of age; also a “ layer- 
down” of forged paper. Bell has served several terms in 
various prisons, and is now near the completion of a ten- 
years’ sentence in the Maryland state prison. 

Robert S. Ballard, fifty-one years of age, a physician by 
profession, a forger and bigamist by practice, has recently 
completed a term in prison. 

Thomas Ballard was sentenced by a United States court 
to serve twenty years for forgery of United States bonds. 
After the expiration of thirteen and a half years, he was. 

35 


546 


A SELECT PARTY 


pardoned by President Cleveland in 1887 (about the time 
when 1 came home from England). 

Walter Sheridan was arrested in 1858 for robbing a bank 
in Chicago, Ill.; also in Toledo, 1869, for robbing the First 
National Bank of Springfield, Ill., but was acquitted for want 
of proof. In 1870 he was implicated in the robbery of the 
Maryland Insurance Company, Baltimore, and of the Me¬ 
chanics Bank, of Scranton, Pa. In 1873 he defrauded the 
New York Indemnity and Warehouse Company of $84,000, 
with which he made good his escape to Europe, taking $200,- 
000 of forged bonds which were stolen from him by another 
“ crook.” Returning to New York, Sheridan was sent to 
Sing Sing in 1877, for five years. Soon after his term had 
expired, he was arrested in Philadelphia and sent for a term 
of three years to the Eastern Penitentiary. His term expired 
in 1884, and in the latter part of the same year he was again 
arrested, in St. Louis, and sentenced to two years in State 
prison. 

J Little Elliott is thirty-three years of age. He went to 
Turkey with Becker and Chapman, was sentenced at the 
x-same time with them to three and one-half years, and 
^escaped after some months imprisonment. He is now serv¬ 
ing a term of eighteen years for forgery on the Flour City 
Bank, of Rochester, N. Y. It was Engles or Wilkes who 
prepared the forged paper presented by him to that and other 
banks. 

W. H. Lyman, a notorious forger, died in the Charles¬ 
town, Mass., prison in 1883, just before the expiration of his 
sentence. 

Stephen Raymond is fifty-six years of age, and after serv¬ 
ing several terms for forgery, was sentenced in New York 
city to imprisonment for life. 

Williamson, or Perrine, is forty-five years of age. He 
acted as “layer-down,” or presenter of papers forged by 
Engles and others, and succeeded in getting l^rge amounts 
of such papers cashed, but was finally arrested and sent to 


OF NOTORIOUS CRIMINALS. 


547 


Sing Sing for fifteen years. He escaped from that institution 
in 1877. and went*to London with Engles, where, for present¬ 
ing forged paper to the London and County Bank, he was 
convicted and sentenced for ten years. By giving evidence 
against others of the Engles party, he was released in 1883, 
after serving about four years, and returned to New York. 

Dan Noble is now serving out a twenty years’ sentence 
for presenting paper forged by Engles on a London bank. 

Williamson is at present in the Missouri state prison, 
serving a sentence of ten years for presenting in 1885 to the 
St. Louis National Bank forged checks prepared by Engles. 

Wise, or Rosencranz, is forty-five years old. He has been 
engaged since 1869 in presenting paper forged by Engles. 
He has served several terms, and has recently completed five 
years in Auburn state prison. 

Spence Pettis, a well known New York layer-down, after 
serving several terms, ended his career in Charlestown prison, 
Mass., by hanging himself from the bars of his cell door in 
1874. 

George Watson, after ruining his constitution by dissipa¬ 
tion, died while serving out a sentence for forgery. 

Van Etten, in 1871, received a sentence of ten years for 
presenting a forged check to the Park National Bank, N. Y. 
He was pardoned, and while being taken to San Francisco to 
answer another charge of forgery he killed himself on the 
train by taking a dose of narcotics, which he by some means 
obtained. 

Lewis Cole, after serving several terms, when he was on 
the point of being again arrested, shot and killed himself 
with a revolver. 

Charles Lister, who went to England in 1877 with Dan 
Noble, is now about completing a fifteen years term there, 
if he is alive. 

Johnny Miller was arrested on information given by Lis¬ 
ter, and is now serving a term of twenty years in England. 

I have always been under the impression that Frank 


548 A PRISON DIRECTOR'S DISCOVERY. 

Kibbe, like Engles, would keep out of prison — both being 
super-extra cowards. 

Since the preceding pages were written it has come to my 
knowledge that Frank Kibbe served a term in Cherry Hill 
Penitentiary, Philadelphia. 

The following letter is from a prominent citizen of the 
State of Connecticut, it being one of several received by me 
on the same subject: 

- Conn., May 29, 1888. 

Mr. Bidwell : 

Sir, —Yours of the 14th inst. duly received. - I have deferred a 
reply hoping to learn something of Frank’s present whereabouts, 
but have failed. In 1874 I was associated with Judge H. H. 
Barbour, of Hartford (now deceased), as State Prison Director. 
The Judge took a deep interest in prison reform, and at his 
request we visited several States. It occurred to me that I might 
run across Frank, who had been missing for some years, and who, 
in my opinion, was a proper subject for confinement. At Phila¬ 
delphia, after going through the prison, looking at the records, etc., 
the warden told me there were two Eastern fellows confined there 
for six years (four of which had passed) — for swindling, if I am 
not mistaken. Their assumed names I cannot recall. I gave a 
description of Frank. The deputy said at once, “ That is Kibbe.” 
He had written to his wife, thus exposing his true name. The 
warden said, “ Perhaps he would like to see you ” — and we went to 
his cell. I remained a few feet back. My name was given him, 
and in his quick way he said, “No, no, I don’t know any such 
man.” That was the last time I heard Frank’s voice — is all I 
know of him. 

Yours,-. 

Kibbe had previously been twice arrested in Philadelphia, 
but had on both occasions been let off by paying for the 
swindled goods. 

During his incarceration his wife, also a native of New 
England, visited him. She bore an excellent character, was 
driven mad by her husband’s conduct, and died in a lunatic 
asylum in the vicinity of her native place before the expir¬ 
ation of his term. After being discharged, this man who had 






THE END OF FRANK KIBBE. 


549 


for years squandered large sums in high living — this exqui¬ 
site, formerly decked out in magnificent style with diamonds 
flashing, became a common beggar, tramp, and vagabond. 

A gentleman who knew Kibbe from childhood, at the time 
a merchant in Philadelphia, living at the Continental Hotel, 
said to me lately : “ One evening I was standing in the office 
when a seedy-looking man came along and held out his hand. 
I paid no attention, but observed that he continued the round 
of the place, then returning, stopped in front of me and 
asked: 

44 4 Don’t you know me, James V 

“I replied: 4 No.’ 

“ 4 Have you forgotten Frank Kibbe ? ’ he queried.” 

My informant now recognized him, and was told some par¬ 
ticulars about his imprisonment — that he had been discharged 
some weeks previously and had since been begging, etc., etc. 
The gentleman handed him ten dollars on condition that he 
should trouble him no more. 

For about nine months after the above event Kibbe was 
cadging about Philadelphia, then disappeared — probably got 
into prison again, or died in some hospital. 

I might add to the list enough names to fill a large book, 
without exhausting the supply. 

Despite all the examples on record, proving the sad results 
which sooner or later invariably follow wrong-doing, forgeries, 
defalcations, and frauds committed by men in good positions, 
are now of daily occurrence. I have not space here to enter 
into an examination of the causes of this terrible fact. For 
every case that comes to light there are doubtless a hundred 
which are hushed up by intercession of employers or friends. 

As any person advances, step by step, along the seem¬ 
ingly flowery path which leads him first to association, then 
into confederacy with 44 crooks,” he in the same ratio acquires 
those prodigal and loose habits which cause him to squander 
his ill-gotten gains in ways which leave him in a few years a 
wreck in mind, body, and estate. 


Chapter LI. 


FAC-SIMILE OF AN ORDINARY TICKET-OF-LEAVE — REQUIREMENTS AND REGULATIONS 
PRINTED ON ITS BACK — THE “TICKET OF LEAVE” MAN — PRISONERS’ AID 
SOCIETY —PRISONERS’ OPINIONS OF THAT SOCIETY—NO CHANCE FOR EX-CON¬ 
VICTS IN ENGLAND — HOW PRISON GRATUITY MONEY IS USED — BUYING A NEW 
SUIT — PRISONS THE BEST HOMES MANY EVER HAD — EX-CONVICTS BLACK¬ 
MAILED— WELCH, “THE TRUSS OF STRAW,” AND PARKER, “ MODEL” LONDON 
DETECTIVES — BY PERJURY THEY GET PIPER AND SHAW FOURTEEN YEARS — 
PARKER ARRESTED AND THE TRUTH BECOMES KNOWN — PIPER AND SHAW DIS¬ 
CHARGED AFTER SERVING EIGHTEEN MONTHS OF THE FOURTEEN YEARS — PIPER 
LEAPS FROM LONDON BRIDGE — GETS £100 DAMAGES FOR WRONGFUL IMPRISON¬ 
MENT —THE RIGHT HONORABLE HENRY MATTHEWS— CONCLUSION. 

T HOUSANDS of people have attended the play entitled 
the “ Ticket-of-leave Man,” and have shown deep inter¬ 
est m the fate of one so placed, though only a fictitious 
representation of what I actually am at the present moment 
—- a genuine ticket-of-leave man. 

During my imprisonment I had opportunities of hearing 
what a large number of men had to say, who had been out on 
tickets-of-leave, some of them several times. A small gratu¬ 
ity is allowed to each prisoner upon his discharge, but this is 
not given into his possession all at once. In case he goes 
to the “ Prisoners’ Aid Society,” it is sent by the warder who 
accompanies him to the place of his conviction. If London, 
the ticket-of-leave man is taken to the society’s office and his 
gratuity handed over to its manager. If his destination is 
elsewhere in England the gratuity is left with the local agent 
of the society. In either case the ticket-of-leave man receives 
a half-a-crown (thirty cents) per day so long as any of the 
gratuity money is left. In case work is not obtained by that 
time he is turned adrift, at least I was so informed by pris¬ 
oners who had been thus treated. The general impression 

( 550 ) 




TOM TAYLOR'S DRAMA NOT FROM LIFE. 


551 


among the prisoners who have had experience with the society 
is that it is conducted in the interest of those who draw 
salaries from its funds. 

44 They pretend to furnish work or get us into situations,’’ 
said one to me, 44 and I was given a basket of oranges, pur¬ 
chased with a part of my gratuity money, and told to go and 
hawk them through the streets. Finding they did not 
‘hawk,’or that I did not understand the business sufficiently, 
and as the society could or would get me no other situation— 
my gratuity being all gone—I found I must go hungry or 
steal. Well, I stole, and am here doing another 4 lagging.’” 

Two or three months before the expiration of his term, or 
the date he is to be freed on a ticket-of-leave, the convict 
must inform the governor if he wishes to join the Prisoners’ 
Aid Society. In case he has 44 done ” above a five years term, 
and by good conduct has been promoted to the special or 
blue-dress class, he is entitled to an extra gratuity of £2 from 
the society. This is a substantial benefit, as in many cases, 
added to the prison gratuity, it enables the society to send 
him out as an emigrant to one of the colonies where he can 
have a fair chance to begin an honest life — it being hardly 
possible for an ex-convict to have it in England. I have 
heard a number of prisoners relate their experiences while in 
search of honest employment. 

In Tom Taylor’s drama, the ticket-of-leave man is perse¬ 
cuted by his former companions, who attempt by every artifice 
to force him back into crime. Now, in so far as my experi¬ 
ence enables me to judge, this picture is not drawn from life. 
Professionals are fully aware of the risks they run, and never 
as a rule attempt any unfair means to induce each other to 
take part in crime. 

44 Do you continue to wear the clothes furnished by the 
prison authorities ? ” I asked on more than one occasion. 

44 No,” was the reply of one, 44 1 got out of them as soon 
as possible. When I went up to London after my last 
4 lagging,’ there were four of us who went to the society. All 


552 


THE nATED MONTHLY REPORT. 


of us wished to exchange our clothes for better, and an agent 
of the society took us to a Jew clothes-dealer, and, as the 
society had our money, we were obliged to take new suits at 
the Jew’s own price — he allowing but a trifle for the suits 
we had worn from prison. I felt pretty certain that the agent 
had a share in that job.” 

Of course I vouch for none of this, but where there is 
smoke there must be some fire. 

The ticket-of-leave man must report in petson at the police 
headquarters of the place he lives in once a month; by failing 
to do so he renders himself liable to be taken back to prison 
to serve the remainder of his time. He must leave his 
address, and if he changes his residence, must notify the 
police so that they can find him at any time in case he should 
be “ wanted 

The accompanying illustration will give an idea of the 
“ hang-dog ” feeling it gives one who has not become thor¬ 
oughly hardened, in being thus obliged to “show up” at 
police-headquarters each month. Indeed, I have had a num¬ 
ber of men tell me that they preferred to “ do ” the whole of 
their time rather than be out under the surveillance of 
the police and obliged to report themselves monthly. This 
police supervision can be escaped only by emigration, some 
actually conducting themselves so as to lose their remission 
and serve their whole term. 

I knew one who, on the morning he was to go home after 
serving his term of ten years, refused to put on citizen’s 
clothes, resisting the officers who put him into them by 
force. This class of men, of whom I have seen hundreds, 
know that the only comparative comfort they have had 
from their birth has been while in jail or prison. With 
them it has been the ever recurring “ move on ” of the bob¬ 
bies or peelers, as they call policemen, and the general 
wretchedness of their lives while free may be only faintly 
imagined from a due consideration of the above fact. 

I have had a good many tell me how they had been fol- 





























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































• ' 

; .• 

r A 














’ 

I '' " 








i 



























































































































































“A PRETTY PAIR.' 


553 


lowed by so-called detectives, when in a situation, and black¬ 
mailed, or if they refused to submit to that “ tax ” were 
denounced to their masters and discharged to find other 
work or steal. In other cases charges were trumped up 
against them, and they were sent back to prison by perjury. 
At present detectives or policemen who do such dirty work 
risk imprisonment. A detective in London had acquired the 
sobriquet of “ Truss of straw ” from the following circum¬ 
stance: One day he saw a child some four years of age 
toddling along the street. Soon the little one’s attention 
was attracted by a small truss of straw at the door of a shop, 
which it managed to take in its arms and toddle on. Such 
an opportunity for fame and promotion must not be missed; 
the detective arrested the child and took him before a magis¬ 
trate, who, laughing at the zealous guardian of the public, 
conferred upon him the above title, which stuck to him 
through life, though his name was Welch. This “ Truss of 
straw ” had a partner named Parker, another detective. 
These precious specimens of justice’s aids made a regular 
business of robbing thieves of their ill-gotten gains, by threat¬ 
ening to “ run them in,” or in black-mailing ex-convicts who 
were trying to earn an honest living. These detectives failing 
to get their demands acceded to by two men, Piper and Shaw, 
arrested them on a charge of robbery. On their own testi¬ 
mony, aided by that of the person who had been robbed — 
whom they had induced, by methods elsewhere described, to 
believe that these were really the men who had robbed him — 
both the accused were sentenced to fourteen years penal 
servitude each. A year and a half later Parker was hauled 
before a magistrate for complicity in some fraud, and the 
moment he was arrested Welch “went back on him.” 
Parker got out of the scrape with being expelled from 
the force, and wanted to continue sharing Welch’s illicit 
gains; but refusing to do so, Parker to revenge himself, 
exposed the plot by which Piper and Shaw had been con¬ 
victed, and these were set at liberty. Piper had determined 


554 TICHBORNE IMPRISONED AS “ THOMAS CASTRO .” 

to earn an honest living, but failing to obtain employment, 
and reduced to the point of starvation, he threw himself over 
London Bridge, but was rescued and taken before a magis¬ 
trate on the charge of attempted suicide, which crime is 
severely punished in England. To exonerate himself he 
told in open court the story of his fourteen years’ sentence, 
out of which he had served eighteen months at Chatham. 
The magistrate had Shaw hunted up, and having ascertained 
the truth of Piter’s statement, ordered • that they should be 
paid one hundred pounds each, that being the largest sum 
the law put it in his power to award in such a case. I had 
the foregoing account from an intelligent prisoner who was ac¬ 
quainted with the men and had heard it from their own lips, 
which corroborated what I had learned about it from other 
sources. 

The ticket-of-leave and other documents, in the name of 
“ Castro,” accompanying this chapter are fac-similes of the 
originals given to Sir Roger C. D. Tichborne, the world- 
famed “ Claimant,” on his discharge from Portsmouth prison, 
after serving a term of fourteen years. He was at Dartmoor 
prison during a portion of the time I was there. These docu¬ 
ments are the same as are given in all cases, except where 
the sentence is for “ life,” as in my case. All others or 
tickets referring to a limited term of imprisonment, are not 
signed by the Home Secretary, as is the “ ticket-of-leave ” at 
the commencement of this book. That is a fac-simile of the 
one given to me by the warder who accompanied me to Liver¬ 
pool, after he had placed me safely on board the steamship 
Wisconsin , as described in the “ explanatory ” chapter. It is 
signed by the Right Honorable Henry Matthews, Q. C., Her 
Majesty’s Secretary for Home. 

Previous to accepting the eminent office which he holds at 
the time of this writing, Mr. Matthews had been a bar¬ 
rister of high standing and great ability. He was born in 
Ceylon in 1826, and educated partly on the Continent, partly 
in England, having graduated at the University of Paris as 


NOTICE SERVED BEFORE RELEASE. 


555 


bachelor of arts, and in 1849 from the University of London, 
LL.B., carrying off the University law scholarship of X50 
a year for three years. As some of my readers may wish to 
see the shadow of the man whose name appears on my ticket- 
of-leave, I have inserted his portrait. 


METROPOLITAN POLICE DISTRICT. 


(No. i.) 


To. 




, a Convict about to be liberated. 


on License , or a Person subject to the Supervision of the Police. 


Under the provisions of the Prevention of Crimes Acts 1871-9, you are required 
to-report yourself personally to the Chief Officer of Police of the District in 
which you reside, or to a Constable, or person appointed by hirn. 

TAKE NOTICE, THEREFORE, that I, the undersigned, the 
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, being the Chief Officer of Police 
of the Metropolitan Police District, have appointed the Constable in charge 
of the Convict Office, Great Scotland Yard, to receive your declaration of 
residence on liberation, and 1 require you to report yourself to him 
personally within 48 hours thereof, at that Office. 


If you neglect So to do within 48 hours of the said liberation, you 
are liable to have your license forfeited or to be sentenced to twelve 
months' imprisonment with hard labour. 


Metropolitan Police Office, 



The day before a convict is to be released he is removed 
to the Millbank prison, London, where the above notice is 
served on him by a clerk from the Metropolitan Police Head¬ 
quarters. 






556 


TJCHBORNE'S TICKET-OF-LEAVE. 


No. 300. 


(No. 2.) 


Metropolitan police district 


To. 


Ipsaesc 



.a Convict liberated 


on License, or a person subject to the Supervision of the Police. 


Under the provisions of the Prevention of Crimes Acts, 1871 and 1879, you 
are required to report your entry into and removal from a Police District 
to the Chief Officer of Police of the said District, or to such other 
person as he may appoint, and so long as you remain in the District you 
must report yourself personally, once a month, at such time as may be 
prescribed by the Chief Officer; and any change of address within the said 
district must be declared in like manner. 

TAKE NOTICE, THEREFORE, that I, the undersigned, the 
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, being the Chief Officer of Police 
of the Metropolitan Police District, require that you report yourself 
personally, to the Constable in charge of ^ v Me** C—' 







■b l i uj, l l ii TWWW 






Mt 

of each month end any change of residence shall 
likewise be declared to the said Constnble prior to your removal. 

The Penalty for neglecting to do as above directed, or for 
leaving the District without declaring your intention so to do, is the 

i . 

forfeiture of your License, or Twelve Months’ Imprisonment with Hard 
Labour. 





Metropolitan Police Office, 

^JLz—day of _ Jk£et.\wCf 


v ’ If vou leave tlie District and again return to it you must immediately report such return either at 

^ ^ ^ _ a c ...»t..... I Vnr/I nr al tlw* Prtlirp Stafinn nnarput vmir filar© 


the Convict Office. Great Scotland Yard, or at the Police Statipuneweat to your flare of abode 


0 . 4 II. 3<W 1—4 

* BtTl 


[OVF.R, 










NOTICE TO SIR R. C. D TICHBORNE, BART. 


U04.H 

FORM—38c. 


HANTS CONSTABULARY. 

Notice to be served on License Holder number _ 

Nome .MLhaa. CL4 . aJjni 


£L._n3cj_ 

73 tVuL 


34, 35 Vic., cap. 112. 

Section 5. —Every holder of a license granted under the Penal 
Servitude Acts who is at large in great Britain or Ireland shall notify the 
place of his residence to the chief officer of police of the district in 
which his residence is situated, and shall, whenever he changes such residence 
within the same police district, notify such change to the chief officer of 
police of that district, and whenever he changes his residence from one 
pohce district to another shall notify such change of residence to the 
Chief officer of police of the police district which he is leaving, and to the 

chief officer of police of the police district into which he goes to reside; 

moreover, every male holder of such a license as aforesaid shall, once in 
each month, report himself at such time as may be prescribed by the chief 
officer of police of the district in which such holder may be, either to such 
chief officer himself or to such other person as that officer may direct, and 
*uch report may, according as such chief officer directs, be required to be 
made personally or by letter. 

If any holder of a license who is at large in Great Britain or Ireland, 
remains in any place for forty-eight hours without notifying the place of his 
residence to the chief officer of police of the district in which such place is 

situated, or fails to comply with the requisitions of this section on the 

occasion of any change of residence, or with the requisitions of this section 
■as to reporting himself once in each month, he shall in every such case, 
unless he proves to the satisfaction of the eourt before whom he is tried that 
he did his best to act in conformity with the law, be guilty of an offence 
against this Act, and upon conviction thereof his license may in the discre¬ 
tion of the court be forfeited; or, if the term of penal servitude in respect 
of which his license was granted has expired at the date of his conviction, it 
shall be lawful for the court to sentence him to imprisonment, with or without 
hard labour, for a term not exceeding one year, or if the said terra of penal 
servitude has not expired, but the remainder unexpired thereof is a lesser 
period than one year, then to sentence him to imprisonment, with or without 
hard labour, to commence at the expiration of the said term of penal 
servitude, for such a term as, together with the remainder unexpired of his 
said term of penal servitude, will not exceed one year. 


By / vir^ti g o f the above I hereby direct you to report 
yourself prrgrmalTy on the first Monday in each month to the 
&&.*>**-£*. of the Hants Constabulary, at the 

Police Station at j3/ O 


Chief Constable of Hants, 







558 


BACK OF TICKET-OF-LEAVE. 


THIS LICENCE WILL BE FORFEITED IF THE HOLDER DOES NOT 
OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS, 


CONDITIONS. 


1. The Holder shall preserve his Lioence, and produce it when called upon to do so by a Magistrate or Police Officer. 


2. He shall abstain from any violation of the Law. 

3. He shall not habitually associate with notoriously bad Characters, such as reputed Thieves and Prostitutes. 

4. He shall not lead an idle and dissolute Life, without visiblo means of obtaining an honest Livelihood. 

If his licence is forfeited or revoked in consequence of a Conviction for any Offence, he will be liable to undergo 

Prrml Servitude equal iht» yrvWnn if iiii» ftmini. if yai ra ■ w Urth pirod * 

lirenra was gwa'id, iriii i Una Twrm wf ffCc * 




77(6 -attention of the Licence-holder is directed icr the following provisions of “ The Prevention of 

Crimes Acts , 1871 and 1879.” 


If it appears from the facts proved before a coart of summary jurisdiction that there are reasonable grounds for 
believing that {he convict so brought before it is getting his livelihood by dishonest means, such conviot shall be 
deemed to be guilty of an offence against the Prevention of Crijmes Act, and his licence shall be forfeited. 

Every holder of a licence granted under the Penal Servitude Acts who is at large in Great Britain or Ireland, shall 
•within 48 hours of his liberation personally notify the place of hit residence to the chief officer of police of the district 
in which his residence is situated, or to a constable or person appointed by him, and shall, whenever he changes such 
residence within, the same police district, notify such change to the chief officer of police of that district, or to a constable 
or person appointed by him, and whenever he changes his residence from one police district to another, shall personally 
notify such -change of residence to the chief officer of police of the police district which he is leaving, or to a constabla 
or person appointed by him, and to' the chief officer of police of the police district into which he goes to reside, or to a 
aonstable or person appointed by him ; moreover, every male bolder of such a Licence as aforesaid shall, once in each 
month, report -himself personally at such ti(ne as may be prescribed by the chief officer of police of the district in which such 
bolder may be, either to such chief officer himself or to such other person as that Officer may direct, and such report 
may, according an such chief officer directs, be required to be made personally or by letter. 

If any holder of a licence who is at large in Great Britain or Ireland remains in any place for forty-eight hours without 
notifying the place of hie residence to the chief officer of police of the district in which such place is situated, or to a 
constable or person appointed by him, or fails to comply with the requisitions of this section on the occasion of any change of 
residence, or with the requisitions of ‘this section, as to reporting himself once in each month, he shall in every such case 
unless he proves to the satisfaction of the Coart before whom be is tried that he did his best to act in conformity with 
the law, be guilty of an offence against the Prevention of Crimes Act, and npon conviction thereof his licence may in the 
discretion of the Court be forfeited , or if the term of Penal Servitude in respect of which his licence was granted has expired, 
at the date of his conviction, it shall be lawful for the court to sentence him to imprisonment, with or without Hard 
Labour, for a term not exceeding one year, 01 if the said term of Penal Servitude has not expired bnt the remainder 
unexpired thereof is a lesser period than one year, then to sentence him to imprisonment, with or without Hard 
Labour, to commence at the expiration of the said term* of Penal Servitude, for such a term as, together with the 
remainder unexpired of his said term of Penal Servitude, will not exceed one year. 

Where any ptraon is convicted od indictment of a crime, and a previous conviction of a crime is proved against 
him, he shall, at any time within seven years immediately after the expiration of the sentence passed on him for tha 
last of such crimes be guilty of an offence against the Prevention of Crimes Act, and be liable to imprisonment with 
or without Hard Labour, for a term not exceeding one year, under the following circumstances or any of them: 

Fust. If, on his being charged by a constable with getting his livelihood by dishonest means, and being brought 
before a court of summary jurisdiction, it appears to such court that there are reasonable grounds for believing that 
the parson so charged is getting his livelihood by dishonest means ; or, 


Secondly. If on being charged with any offence punishable on indictment or summary conviction, and on being 
required by a court of summaiy jurisdiction to give his name and address, he refuses to do so, or gives a false 
Sioms or a false address ; or, 


IfemDLY. If he is found in any place, whether public or private, under such circumstances as to satisfy the court 
before whom he is brought that he was about to commit or to aid in the commission of any offence punishable on 
indictment or summary conviction, or was waiting for an opportunity to commit or aid in the commission of any 
erffenos punishable on indictment or summary conviction; or ' - 

F&ubthly. If he is found in err upon any dwelling-house, or any building, yard, or premises, being parcel of or 
attached to such dwelling-house, or. in or upon any shop, warehouse, counting-house, 6r other place of business 
or in any garden, orchard, pleasure-ground, or nursery-ground, or in any building or erection in any garden' 
orchard, pleasure-ground, or nursery-ground, without being obit to account to the satisfaction of the Court bsfore 
Hhom he la brought for his being found on such premises. 


I have now brought my narrative to the point where it 
connects with the explanatory chapter, at the beginning of 
the book. 









PERSONAL. 


559 


Good-natured reader — you who have followed my tor¬ 
tuous footsteps almost through a lifetime — a lifetime of 
experiences the like of which I trust may never fall to the lot 
of another — the limit of this volume is now reached — the 
end has come! 

The months occupied in the preparation of these pages 
have been — aside from painful but necessary retrospections — 
a period of unalloyed happiness. Freedom —home—friends! 
— why should I not be happy ? Instead of the coldness and 
rebuffs, which the unwarranted proceeding in New York 
harbor led me to anticipate, I have received only kindness, 
encouragement, and valued assistance from the best men and 
women in the world. Fortunate indeed is it that my associa¬ 
tions and surroundings have been of so heathful a character. 
Would that all, in circumstances corresponding with my 
own, might enjoy like ennobling influences! 

What more fitting time than this beautiful day in June 
for paying my tribute of acknowledgment to those benefac¬ 
tors ? Reclining dreamily, my attention is aroused by the 
hum of bees around my hammock, which swings from the 
friendly projecting arms of a conical-shaped pine at the foot 
of the lawn, its myriads of tufts and buds swaying to the 
summer breeze and filling the air with soft murmurs. Glanc¬ 
ing upward, my view is obstructed by majestic ancestral elms, 
together forming a gigantic bower. The melody among the 
grand old boughs reveals the nesting-places of many birds. 
Joyous creatures! Who would not be happy as a bird in 
June? Alas! my lost — irrevocably lost — score of Junes! 
How full of life everything appears. Yonder a squirrel 
scurries circling up the trunk of a poplar. Apple, quince, 
cherry, and plum trees, 

With flowers and shrubs, here widely spread. 

Shed rich perfumes around my head. 

A pair of robin red-breasts are hopping fearlessly about; 
there to the left, a little jenny-wren is picking at the pea- 
blossoms, the product of seed planted and tended by my own 


560 


HOME , SWEET HOME 


hands, from which I hope ere long to be rewarded by a feast 
of green peas — the first in fifteen years ! It is too pleasant, 
the air too delicious, to remain indoors; and seated near me is 
the modern Penelope — from whom Folly separated me so 
long — watching the sports of grandchildren. Their merry 
laughter brings to the youthful-appearing grandmother’s lips 
an answering smile, and a look of the old-time happiness to 
her still handsome features. 

Somehow, I feel that when these closing words of mine 
are being read, I shall be permitted to regard each reader as 
a friend. To such I say in parting: Come and see me at my 
pleasant home amid the elms — wife, children, grandchildren, 
clustering around me. John Howard Payne could never 
have appreciated “ Home, Sweet Home ” as I now do. 

Good-bye, dear readers — and in the language of Tiny 
Tim, “ God bless us every one! ” 


“ The Elms” East Hartford , Conn. 































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